20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - Jules Verne (Airmont Classics CL12, 1963)

LEAGUES
Tr SEA

JULES VERNE

20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea

By JULES VERNE

vfIRMONT\$OOXS

An Airmont Classic

specially selected for the Airmont Library
from the immortal literature of the world

THE SPECIAL CONTENTS OF THIS EDITION

©, Copyright, 1963, by
Airmont Publishing Company, Inc.

PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY IN THE DOMINION OF CANADA
BY THE RYERSON PRESS, TORONTO

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY THE COLONIAL PRESS INC., CLINTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Airmont Publishing Co., Inc., 22 East 60th St., New York 22, N.Y.

20,000 LEAGUES under the SEA

JULES VERNE

When Jules Verne was at his peak as a writer of science fic¬
tion in the decade from 1862 to 1872, science itself was about
to make great strides into the twentieth century. European
countries were still carving out their empires; Americans
were still settling the West, and the country had just
emerged from the cauldron of the war that was fought to
decide whether all men were to be born free. At this time,
just past the mid-point of the nineteenth century, a talented
Frenchman was looking into the future and writing of ma¬
chines and events that must have seemed far stranger to his
readers than the vehicles and exploits of Glenn and Titov
and their comrades do to us today. Yet much that he pre¬
dicted nearly one hundred years ago has come to pass, or will
within the foreseeable future. Twenty-nine years before the
Wright brothers achieved powered flight, Jules Verne, in his
imagination, had sent a rocket to the moon. Ninety years
before the atomic-powered U.S.S. Nautilus sailed under the
polar ice cap, Jules Verne’s Nautilus had passed beneath the
ice of the Antarctic continent.

In addition to the effective and imaginative use of science
as a framework for his novels, Jules Verne in Twenty Thou¬
sand Leagues Under the Sea created one of the great tragic
characters of literature in the megalomaniac Captain Nemo,
master of the Nautilus. Embittered by some unknown trag¬
edy of war that had taken his family from him, this scientific
genius flees from his fellow man and takes up residence in
the purity of the oceans of the world, disdaining ever again
to place his feet on land sullied by those who carelessly de¬
stroy life, human or animal. However, he fails, and by his
very humanness he must fail, to divorce himself from
humanity. He is bound to the warmongers by his hatred of
them and by his need for vengeance. It is only when he de¬
stroys a man-of-war that he realizes he is no better than
they. Then it is too late for reformation and he perishes in
the maelstrom — or does he?

3

INTRODUCTION

This tale of a superhuman character with a single, all-
consuming weakness is told by the scientist Professor Pierre
Aronnax, who becomes so embroiled in his scientific observa¬
tions, while prisoner on the Nautilus, that he is unable to see
the self-destroying hatred of Captain Nemo. It is left to the
impetuous and courageous Canadian, Ned Land, with his
normal human strengths and weaknesses, to restore M. Ar-
onax and his manservant, Conseil, to reality and eventually
to the world of people.

This novel with its forecast of the ever-increasing destruc¬
tiveness of war and the increasingly irresponsible depletion
of the animal life of the world is probably Verne’s most im¬
portant work. In it, he pleads for an end to senseless killing
that eventually could destroy all living creatures.

Typical of all his novels are certain characteristics which
appear in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. There
is a humorous handling of the minor characters, particularly
of the manservant, Conseil, who is a caricature of his master,
M. Aronnax. The characters of M. Aronnax and Ned Land
reflect their commonly accepted national characteristic —
M. Aronnax is the logical Frenchman, and Ned Land is the
roughhewn man of action of sea-girt Canada. The meticulous
piling up of scientific detail as seen in catalogues of the sea-
creatures that are encountered indicate that the author was
not given to wild flights of fancy. His basic scientific ideas
are all practical and, in fact, many are commonplace today.
This book lacks any romantic interest whatsoever, except for
the allusions to Captain Nemo’s family. This, too, is one of
the hallmarks of Verne’s fiction. Love interest is subordinated
to the scentific travel plot, or is entirely lacking.

Who was this predecessor of H. G. Wells, Olaf Stapledon,
Arthur Clarke, Ray Bradbury, and a host of others? Who
was this man who did for science fiction and the prophetic
novel what Edgar Allan Poe did for the mystery story? Jules
Verne was born in 1828, in Nantes, France. He went to Paris
to study law, but became involved in writing for the theater.
Some travelers’ stories which he wrote for a Paris magazine
pointed the way to his true talent, the writing of what were
then thought to be extravagant tales of travel based on care¬
fully researched scientific principles. He died at Amiens in
1905. His best-known books are Five Weeks in a Balloon,
1862; Voyage to the Center of the Earth, 1864; A Trip to
the Moon, 1865; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, 1869;
Around the World in Eighty Days, 1872. All of these were
translated into many of the languages of the world.

PART ONE

1. A Shifting Reef

The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a
mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless
no one has yet forgotten. Not to mention rumours which
agitated the maritime population, and excited the public
mind, even in the interior of continents, seafaring men were
particularly excited. Merchants, common sailors, captains
of vessels, skippers, both of Europe and America, naval of¬
ficers of all countries, and the Governments of several states
on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.

For some time past, vessels had been met by “an enor¬
mous thing,” a long object, spindle-shaped, occasionally
phosphorescent, and infinitely larger and more rapid in its
movements than a whale.

The facts relating to this apparition (entered in various
logbooks) agreed in most respects as to the shape of the ob¬
ject or creature in question, the untiring rapidity of its
movements, its surprising power of locomotion, and the
peculiar life with which it seemed endowed. If it was a ce¬
tacean, it surpassed in size all those hitherto classified in
science. Taking into consideration the mean of observa¬
tions made at divers times, — rejecting the timid estimate of
those who assigned to this object a length of two hundred
feet, equally with the exaggerated opinions which set it
down as a mile in width and three in length, — we might
fairly conclude that this mysterious being surpassed greatly
all dimensions admitted by the ichthyologists of the day,
if it existed at all. And that it did exist was an undeniable
fact; and, with that tendency which disposes tie human
mind in favour of the marvellous, we can understand the
excitement produced in the entire world by this supernat¬
ural apparition. As to classing it in the list of fables, the idea
was out of the question.

On the 20th of July, 1866, the steamer Governor Higgin-
son, of the Calcutta and Burnach Steam Navigation Com¬
pany, had met this moving mass five miles off the east coast
of Australia. Captain Baker thought at first that he was in
the presence of an unknown sandbank; he even prepared to
determine its exact position, when two columns of water,
5

6 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

projected by the inexplicable object, shot with a hissing,
noise a hundred and fifty feet up into the air. Now, unless
the sandbank had been submitted to the intermittent erup¬
tion of a geyser, the Governor Higginson had to do neither
more nor less than with an aquatic mammal, unknown till
then, which drew up from its blow-holes columns of water
mixed with air and vapour.

Similar facts were observed on the 23d of July in the
same year, in the Pacific Ocean, by the Columbus, of the
West India and Pacific Steam Navigation Company. But
this extraordinary cetaceous creature could transport itself
from one place to another with surprising velocity; as, in
an interval of three days, the Governor Higginson and the
Columbus had observed it at two different points of the
chart, separated by a distance of more than seven hundred
nautical leagues.

Fifteen days later, two thousand miles farther off, the
Helvetia, of the Compagnie-Nationale, and the Shannon,
of the Royal Mail Steamship Company, sailing to wind¬
ward in that portion of the Atlantic lying between the
United States and Europe, respectively signalled the mon¬
ster to each other in 42° 15' N. lat. and 60° 35' W. long. In
these simultaneous observations, they thought themselves
justified in estimating the minimum length of the mam¬
mal at more than three hundred and fifty feet, as the Shan¬
non and Helvetia were of smaller dimensions than it, though
they measured three hundred feet over all.

Now the largest whales, those which frequent those
parts of the sea round the Aleutian, Kulammak, and
Umgullich islands, have never exceeded the length of sixty
yards, if they attain that.

These reports arriving one after the other, with fresh ob¬
servations made on board the transatlantic ship Pereire, a
collision which occurred between the Etna of the Inman
line and the monster, a procbs verbal directed by the offi¬
cers of the French frigate Normandie, a very accurate sur¬
vey made by the staff of Commodore Fitz-James on board
the Lord Clyde, greatly influenced public opnion. Light¬
thinking people jested upon the phenomenon, but grave
practical countries, such as England, America, and Ger¬
many, treated the matter more seriously.

In every place of great resort the monster was the fash-

A SHIFTING REEF 7

ion. They sang of it in the cafes, ridiculed it in the papers,
and represented it on the stage. All kinds of stories were
circulated regarding it. There appeared in the papers cari¬
catures of every gigantic and imaginary creature, from the
white whale, the terrible “Moby Dick” of hyperborean re¬
gions, to the immense kraken whose tentacles could entangle
a ship of five hundred tons, and hurry it into the abyss of
the ocean. The legends of ancient times were even resusci¬
tated, and the opinions of Aristotle and Pliny revived, who
admitted the existence of these monsters, as well as the Nor¬
wegian tales of Bishop Pontoppidan, the accounts of Paul
Heggede, and, last of all, the reports of Mr. Harrington
(whose good faith no one could suspect), who affirmed that,
being on board the Castilian, in 1857, he had seen this
enormous serpent, which had never until that time fre¬
quented any other seas but those of the ancient “Constitu-
tionnel.”

Then burst forth the interminable controversy between
the credulous and the incredulous in the societies of savants
and scientific journals. “The question of the monster” in¬
flamed all minds. Editors of scientific journals, quarrelling
with believers in the supernatural, spilled seas of ink dur¬
ing this memorable campaign, some even drawing blood;
for, from the sea-serpent, they came to direct personalities.

For six months war was waged with various fortune in the
leading articles of the Geographical Institution of Brazil,
the Royal Academy of Science of Berlin, the British As¬
sociation, the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, in
the discussions of the “Indian Archipelago,” of the Cosmos
of the Abbe Moigno, in the Mittheilungen of Petermann,
in the scientific chronicles of the great journals of France
and other countries. The cheaper journals replied keenly
and with inexhaustible zest. These satirical writers parodied
a remark of Linnaeus, quoted by the adversaries of the
monster, maintaining “that nature did not make fools,” and
adjured their contemporaries not to give the lie to nature,
by admitting the existence of krakens, sea-serpents, “Moby
Dicks," and other lucubrations of delirious sailors. At
length an article in a well-known satirical journal by a fa¬
vourite contributor, the chief of the staff, settled the mon¬
ster, like Hippolytus, giving it the death-blow amidst an uni¬
versal burst of laughter. Wit had conquered science.

8 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

During the first months of the year 1867, the question
seemed buried never to revive, when new facts were brought
before the public. It was then no longer a scientific problem
to be solved, but a real danger seriously to be avoided. The
question took quite another shape. The monster became a
small island, a rock, a reef, but a reef of indefinite and shift¬
ing proportions.

On the 5th of March, 1867, the Moravian, of the Mon¬
treal Ocean Company, finding herself during the night in
27° 30' lat. and 72° 15' long., struck on her starboard quar¬
ter a rock, marked in no chart for that part of the sea. Un¬
der the combined efforts of the wind and its four hundred
horse-power, it was going at the rate of thirteen knots. Had
it not been for the superior strength of the hull of the Mo¬
ravian, she would have been broken by the shock and gone
down with the 237 passengers she was bringing home from
Canada.

The accident happened about five o’clock in the morning,
as the day was breaking. The officers of the quarter-deck
hurried to the after-part of the vessel. They examined the
sea with the most scrupulous attention. They saw nothing
but a strong eddy about three cables’ length distant, as if
the surface had been violently agitated. The bearings of the
place were taken exactly, and the Moravian continued its
route without apparent damage. Had it struck on a sub¬
merged rock, or on an enormous wreck? they could not tell:
but on examination of the ship’s bottom when undergoing
repairs, it was found that part of her keel was broken.

This fact, so grave in itself, might perhaps have been for¬
gotten like many others, if, three weeks after, it had not
been re-enacted under similar circumstances. But, thanks
to the nationality of the victim of the shock, thanks to the
reputation of the company to which the vessel belonged,
the circumstance became extensively circulated.

The 13th of April, 1867, the sea being beautiful, the
breeze favourable, the Scotia, of the Cunard Company’s
line, found herself in 15° 12' long, and 45° 37' lat. She
was going at the speed of thirteen knots and a half.

At seventeen minutes past four in the afternoon, whilst
the passengers were assembled at lunch in the great saloon,
a slight shock was felt on the hull of the Scotia, on her quar¬
ter, a little aft of the port-paddle.

A SHIFTING REEF 9

The Scotia had not struck, but she had been struck, and
seemingly by something rather sharp and penetrating than
blunt. The shock had been so slight that no one had been
alarmed, had it not been for the shouts of the carpenter’s
watch, who rushed on to the bridge, exclaiming, “We are
sinkingl we are sinking! ” At first the passengers were much
frightened, but Captain Anderson hastened to reassure
them. The danger could not be imminent. The Scotia,
divided into seven compartments by strong partitions, could
brave with impunity any leak. Captain Anderson went down
immediately into the hold. He found that the sea was pour¬
ing into the fifth compartment; and the rapidity of the in¬
flux proved that the force of the water was considerable.
Fortunately this compartment did not hold the boilers, or
the fires would have been immediately extinguished. Captain
Anderson ordered the engines to be stopped at once, and
one of the men went down to ascertain the extent of the
injury. Some minutes afterwards they discovered the exist¬
ence of a large hole, of two yards in diameter, in the ship’s
bottom. Such a leak could not be stopped; and the Scotia,
her paddles half submerged, was obliged to continue her
course. She was then three hundred miles from Cape Clear,
and after three days’ delay, which caused great uneasiness
in Liverpool, she entered the basin of the company.

The engineers visited the Scotia, which was put in dry
dock. They could scarcely believe it possible; at two yards
and a half below water-mark was a regular rent, in the form
of an isosceles triangle. The broken place in the iron plates
was so perfectly defined, that it could not have been more
neatly done by a punch. It was clear, then, that the instru¬
ment producing the perforation was not of a common stamp;
and after having been driven with prodigious strength, and
piercing an iron plate 1 Y& inches thick, had withdrawn it¬
self by a retrograde motion truly inexplicable.

Such was the last fact, which resulted in exciting once
more the torrent of public opinion. From this moment all
unlucky casualties which could not be otherwise accounted
for were put down to the monster. Upon this imaginary
creature rested the responsibility of all these shipwrecks,
which unfortunately were considerable; for of three thou¬
sand ships whose loss was annually recorded at Lloyds’, the
number of sailing and steam ships supposed to be totally

10 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

lost, from the absence of all news, amounted to not less than

two hundred!

Now, it was the “monster” who, justly or unjustly, was
accused of their disappearance, and, thanks to it, communi¬
cation between the different continents became more and
more dangerous. The public demanded peremptorily that
the seas should at any price be relieved from this formidable
cetacean.

2. Pro and Con

Ax the period when these events took place, I had just re¬
turned from a scientific research in the disagreeable territory
of Nebraska, in the United States. In virtue of my office as
Assistant Professor in the Museum of Natural History in
Paris, the French Government had attached me to that ex¬
pedition. After six months in Nebraska, I arrived in New
York towards the end of March, laden with a precious col¬
lection. My departure for France was fixed for the first
days in May. Meanwhile, I was occupying myself in class¬
ifying my mineralogical, botanical, and zoological riches,
when the accident happened to the Scotia.

I was perfectly up in the subject which was the question
of the day. How could I be otherwise? I had read and re¬
read all the American and European papers without being
any nearer a conclusion. This mystery puzzled me. Under
the impossibility of forming an opinion, I jumped from one
extreme to the other. That there really was something could
not be doubted, and the incredulous were invited to put
their finger on the wound of the Scotia.

On my arrival at New York, the question was at its
height. The hypothesis of the floating island, and the un¬
approachable sandbank, supported by minds little com¬
petent to form a judgment, was abandoned. And, indeed,
unless this shoal had a machine in its stomach, how could
it change its position with such astonishing rapidity?

From the same cause, the idea of a floating hull of an enor¬
mous wreck was given up.

There remained then only two possible solutions of the
question, which created two distinct parties: on one side,
those who were for a monster of colossal strength; on the

PRO AND CON 11

other, those who were for a submarine vessel of enormous
motive power.

But this last hypothesis, plausible as it was, could not
stand against inquiries made in both worlds. That a private
gentleman should have such a machine at his command
was not likely. Where, when, and how was it built? and
how could its construction have been kept secret? Certainly
a Government might possess such a destructive machine.
And in these disastrous times, when the ingenuity of man
has multiplied the power of weapons of war, it was possible
that, without the knowledge of others, a state might try to
work such a formidable engine. After the chassepots came
the torpedoes, after the torpedoes the submarine rams,
then — the reaction. At least, I hope so.

But the hypothesis of a war machine fell before the dec¬
laration of Governments. As public interest was in question,
and transatlantic communications suffered, their veracity
could not be doubted. But, how admit that the construc¬
tion of this submarine boat had escaped the public eye?
For a private gentleman to keep the secret under such cir¬
cumstances would be very difficult, and for a state whose
every act is persistently watched by powerful rivals, cer¬
tainly impossible.

After inquiries made in England, France, Russia, Prussia,
Spain, Italy, and America, even in Turkey, the hypothesis of
a submarine monitor was definitely rejected.

Upon my arrival in New York several persons did me
the honour of consulting me on the phenomenon in ques¬
tion. I had published in France a work in quarto, in two vol¬
umes, entitled, “Mysteries of the Great Submarine
Grounds.” This book, highly approved of in the learned
world, gained for me a special reputation in this rather ob¬
scure branch of Natural History. My advice was asked. As
long as I could deny the reality of the fact, I confined my¬
self to a decided negative. But soon finding myself driven
into a corner, I was obliged to explain myself categorically.
And even “the Honourable Pierre Aronnax, Professor in the
Museum of Paris,” was called upon by the New York Herald
to express a definite opinion of some sort. I did something.
I spoke, for want of power to hold my tongue. I discussed
the question in all its forms, politically and scientifically;
and I give here an extract from a carefully studied article

12 X 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

which I published in the number of the 30th of April. It ran

as follows: —

“After examining one by one the different hypotheses, re¬
jecting all other suggestions, it becomes necessary to admit
the existence of a marine animal of enormous power.

“The great depths of the ocean are entirely unknown to
us. Soundings cannot reach them. What passes in those re¬
mote depths — what beings live, or can live, twelve or fifteen
miles beneath the surface of the waters — what is the organ¬
isation of these animals, we can scarcely conjecture. How¬
ever, the solution of the problem submitted to me may mod¬
ify the form of the dilemma. Either we do know all the vari¬
eties of beings which people our planet, or we do not. If we
do not know them all — if Nature has still secrets in ichthy¬
ology for us, nothing is more conformable to reason than
to admit the existence of fishes, or cetaceans of other kinds,
or even of new species, of an organisation formed to inhabit
the strata inaccessible to soundings, and which an accident
of some sort, either fantastical or capricious, has brought at
long intervals to the upper level of the ocean.

“If, on the contrary, we do know all living kinds, we must
necessarily seek for the animal in question amongst those
marine beings already classed; and, in that case, I should be
disposed to admit the existence of a gigantic narwhal.

“The common narwhal, or unicorn of the sea, often at¬
tains a length of sixty feet. Increase its size fivefold or ten¬
fold, give it strength proportionate to its size, lengthen its
destructive weapons, and you obtain the animal required.
It will have the proportions determined by the officers
of the Shannon, the instrument required by the perforation
of the Scotia, and the power necessary to pierce the hull
of the steamer.

“Indeed the narwhal is armed with a sort of ivory sword,
a halberd, according to the expression of certain naturalists.
The principal tusk has the hardness of steel. Some of these
tusks have been found buried in the bodies of whales, which
the unicorn always attacks with success. Others have been
drawn out, not without trouble, from the bottoms of ships,
which they have pierced through and through, as a gimlet
pierces a barrel. The Museum of the Faculty of Medicine of
Paris possesses one of these defensive weapons, two yards

PRO AND CON 13

and a quarter in length, and fifteen inches in diameter at
the base.

“Very welll suppose this weapon to be six times stronger,
and the animal ten times more powerful; launch it at the
rate of twenty miles an hour, and you obtain a shock ca¬
pable of producing the catastrophe required. Until further
information, therefore, I shall maintain it to be a sea-uni-
corn of colossal dimensions, armed, not with a halberd, but
with a real spur, as the armoured frigates, or the ‘rams’ of
war, whose massiveness and motive power it would possess
at the same time. Thus may this inexplicable phenomenon
be explained, unless there be something over and above all
that one has ever conjectured, seen, perceived, or experi¬
enced; which is just within the bounds of possibility.”

These last words were cowardly on my part; but, up to a
certain point, I wished to shelter my dignity as Professor,
and not give too much cause for laughter to the Americans,
who laugh well when they do laugh.

I reserved for myself a way of escape. In effect, however,
I admitted the existence of the “monster.” My article was
warmly discussed, which procured it a high reputation. It
rallied round it a certain number of partisans. The solution
it proposed gave, at least, full liberty to the imagination. The
human mind delights in grand conceptions of supernatural
beings, And the sea is precisely their best vehicle, the only
medium through which these giants (against which terres¬
trial animals, such as elephants or rhinoceroses, are as
nothing) can be produced or developed.

The industrial and commericial papers treated the ques¬
tion chiefly from this point of view. The Shipping and Mer¬
cantile Gazette, the Lloyds’ List, the Packet-Boat, and the
Maritime and Colonial Review, all papers devoted to insur¬
ance companies which threatened to raise their rates of pre¬
mium, were unanimous on this point. Public opinion had
been pronounced. The United States were the first in the
field; and in New York they made preparations for an ex¬
pedition destined to pursue this narwhal. A frigate of great
speed, the Abraham Lincoln, was put in commission as soon
as possible. The arsenals were opened to Commander Far-
ragut, who hastened the arming of his frigate; but, as it al¬
ways happens, the moment it was decided to pursue the
monster, the monster did not appear. For two months no

14 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

one heard it spoken of. No ship met with it. It seemed as if
this unicorn knew of the plots weaving around it. It had
been so much talked of, even through the Atlantic cable,
that jesters pretended that this slender fly had stopped a
telegram on its passage, and was making the most of it.

So when the frigate had been armed for a long campaign,
and provided with formidable fishing apparatus, no one
could tell what course to pursue. Impatience grew apace,
when, on the 2d of July, they learned that a steamer of
the line of San Francisco, from California to Shanghai, had
seen the animal three weeks before in the North Pacific
Ocean. The excitement caused by this news was extreme.
The ship was revictualled and well stocked with coal.

Three hours before the Abraham Lincoln left Brooklyn
pier, I received a letter worded as follows: —

“To M. Aronnax, Professor in the Museum of Paris,
“Fifth Avenue Hotel, Nfew York.

“Sir,

“If you will consent to join the Abraham Lincoln in
this expedition, the Government of the United States
will with pleasure see France represented in the enter¬
prise. Commander Farragut has a cabin at your dis¬
posal.

“Very cordially yours,

“J. B. Hobson,
“Secretary of Marine.”

3. I Form My Resolution

Three seconds before the arrival of J. B. Hobson’s letter,
I no more thought of pursuing the unicorn than of attempt¬
ing the passage of the North Sea. Three seconds after read¬
ing the letter of the honourable Secretary of Marine, I felt
that my true vocation, the sole end of my life, was to chase
this disturbing monster, and purge it from the world.

But I had just returned from a fatiguing journey, weary
and longing for repose. I aspired to nothing more than
again seeing my country, my friends, my little lodging by
the Jardin des Plantes, my dear and precious collections. But

X FORM MY RESOLUTION 15

nothing could keep me backl I forgot all — fatigue, friends,
and collections — and accepted without hesitation the offer
of the American Government.

“Besides,” thought I, “all roads lead back to Europe
(for my particular benefit), and I will not hurry me to¬
wards the coast of France. This worthy animal may allow
itself to be caught in the seas of Europe (for my particular
benefit) and I will not bring back less than half a yard of
his ivory halberd to the Museum of Natural History.” But
in the meanwhile 1 must seek this narwhal in the North
Pacific Ocean, which, to return to France, was taking the
road to the antipodes.

“Conseil,” I called, in an impatient voice.

Conseil was my servant, a true, devoted Flemish boy,
who had accompanied me in all my travels. I liked him, and
he returned the liking well. He was phlegmatic by nature,
regular from principle, zealous from habit, evincing little
disturbance at the different surprises of life, very quick
with his hands, and apt at any service required of him; and
despite his name, never giving advice — even when asked
for it.

Conseil had followed me for the last ten years wherever
science led. Never once did he complain of the length or
fatigue of a journey, never made an objection to pack his
portmanteau for whatever country it might be, or however
far away, whether China or Congo. Besides all this, he had
good health, which defied all sickness, and solid muscles,
but no nerves; good morals are understood. This boy was
thirty years old, and his age to that of his master as fifteen
to twenty. May I be excused for saying that I was forty
years old?

But Conseil had one fault, he was ceremonious to a de¬
gree, and would never speak to me but in the third person,
which was sometimes provoking.

“Conseil,” said I again, beginning with feverish hands to
make preparations for my departure.

Certainly I was sure of this devoted boy. As a rule, I never
asked him if_it were convenient for him or not to follow
me in my travels; but this time the expedition in question
might be prolonged, and the enterprise might be hazardous
in pursuit of an animal ■capable of sinking a frigate as easily
as a nutshell. Here there was matter for reflection even

16 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

to the most impassive man in the world. What would Con-

seil say?

“Conseil,” I called a third time.

Conseil appeared.

“Did you call, sir?” said he, entering.

“Yes, my boy; make preparations for me and yourself
tod. We leave in two hours.”

“As you please, sir,” replied Conseil, quietly.

“Not an instant to lose; — lock in my trunk all travel¬
ling utensils, coats, shirts, and stockings — without counting,
as many as you can, and make haste.”

“And your collections, sir?” observed Conseil.

“We will think of them by and by.”

“Whatl the archiotherium, the hyracotherium, the oreo-
dons, the cheropotamus, and the other skins?”

“They will keep them at the hotel.”

“And your live Babiroussa, sir?”

“They will feed it during our absence; besides, I will
give orders to forward our menagerie to France.”

“We are not returning to Paris, then?” said Conseil.

“Oh! certainly,” I answered, evasively, “by making a
curve.”

“Will the curve please you, sir?”

“Oh! it will be nothing; not quite so direct a road, that
is all. We take our passage in the A braham Lincoln .”

“As you think proper, sir,” coolly replied Conseil.

“You see, my friend, it has to do with the monster — the
famous narwhal. We are going to purge it from the seas.
The author of a work in quarto in two volumes, on the
‘Mysteries of the Great Submarine Grounds’ cannot forbear
embarking with Commander Farragut. A glorious mission,
but a dangerous one! We cannot tell where we may go;
these animals can be very capricious. But we will go wheth¬
er or no; we have got a captain who is pretty wide-awake.”

I opened a credit account for Babiroussa, and, Conseil
following, I jumped into a cab. Our luggage was trans¬
ported to the deck of the frigate immediately. I hastened
on board and asked for Commander Farragut. One of
the sailors conducted me to the poop, where I found myself
in the presence of a good-looking officer, who held out his
hand to me.

“Monsieur Pierre Aronnax?” said he.

I FORM MY RESOLUTION

17

“Himself,” replied I: “Commander Farragut?”

“You are welcome, Professor; your cabin is ready for
you.”

I bowed and desired to be conducted to the cabin destined
for me.

The Abraham. Lincoln had been well chosen and equipped
for her new destination. She was a frigate of great speed,
fitted with high-pressure engines which admitted a pressure
of seven atmospheres. Under this the Abraham Lincon at¬
tained the mean speed of nearly eighteen and a third
knots — a considerable speed, but nevertheless, insufficient
to grapple with this gigantic cetacean.

The interior arrangements of the frigate corresponded to
its nautical qualities. I was well satisfied with my cabin,
which was in the after part, opening upon the gunroom.

“We shall be well off here,” said I to Conseil.

“As well, by your honour’s leave, as a hermit-crab in the
shell of a whelk,” said Conseil.

I left Conseil to stow our trunks conveniently away,
and remounted the poop in order to survey the prepara¬
tions for departure.

At that moment Commander Farragut was ordering the
last moorings to be cast loose which held the Abraham Lin¬
coln to the pier of Brooklyn. So in a quarter of an hour,
perhaps less, the frigate would have sailed without me. I
should have missed this extraordinary, supernatural, and
incredible expedition, the recital of which may well meet
with some scepticism.

But Commander Farragut would not lose a day nor an
, hour in scouring the seas in which the animal had been
sighted. He sent for the engineer.

“Is the steam full on?” asked he.

“Yes, sir,” replied the engineer.

“Go ahead,” cried Commander Farragut.

The quay of Brooklyn, and all that part of New York
bordering on the East River, was crowded with spectators.
Three cheers burst successively from five hundred thousand
throats; thousands of handkerchiefs were waved above the
heads of the compact mass, saluting the Abraham Lincoln,
until she reached the waters of the Hudson, at the point of
that elongated peninsula which forms the town of New
York. Then the frigate, following the coast of New Jersey

18 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

along the right bank of the beautiful river, covered with
villas, passed between the forts, which saluted her with their
heaviest guns. The Abraham Lincoln answered by hoisting
the American colours three times, whose thirty-nine stars
shone resplendent from the mizzen-peak; then modifying its
speed to take the narrow channel marked by buoys placed
in the inner bay formed by Sandy Hook Point, it coasted
the long sandy beach, where some thousands of spectators
gave it one final cheer. The escort of boats and tenders still
followed the frigate, and did not leave her until they came
abreast of the lightship, whose two lights marked the en¬
trance of New York Channel.

Six bells struck, the pilot got into his boat, and rejoined
the little schooner which was waiting under our lee, the fires
were made up, the screw beat the waves more rapidly, the
frigate skirted the low yellow coast of Long Island; and at
eight bells, after having lost sight in the north-west of the
lights of Fire Island, she ran at full steam on to the dark
waters of the Atlantic.

4. Ned Land

Captain Farragut was a good seaman, worthy of the frig¬
ate he commanded. His vessel and he were one. He was
the soul of it. On the question of the cetacean there was no
doubt in his mind, and he would not allow the existence of
the animal to be disputed on board. He believed in it, as
certain good women believe in the leviathan, — by faith,
not by reason. The monster did exist, and he had sworn to»
rid the seas of it. He was a kind of Knight of Rhodes, a sec¬
ond Dieudonne de Gozon, going to meet the serpent which
desolated the island. Either Captain Farragut would kill the
narwhal, or the narwhal would kill the captain. There was
no third course.

The officers on board shared the opinion of their chief.
They were ever chatting, discussing, and calculating the var¬
ious chances of a meeting, watching narrowly the vast sur¬
face of the ocean. More than one took up his quarters vol¬
untarily in the cross-trees, who would have cursed such a
berth under any other circumstances. As long as the sun de¬
scribed its daily course, the rigging was crowded with sail-

NED LAND

19

ors, whose feet were burnt to such an extent by the heat of
the deck as to render it unbearable; still the Abraham Lin¬
coln had not yet breasted the suspected waters of the Pacific.
As to the ship’s company, they desired nothing better than
to meet the unicorn, to harpoon it, hoist it on board, and des¬
patch it. They watched the sea with eager attention.

Besides, Captain Farragut had spoken of a certain Sum of
two thousand dollars, set apart for whoever should first
sight the monster, were he cabin boy, common seaman, or
officer.

I leave you to judge how eyes were used on board the
Abraham Lincoln.

For my own part, I was not behind the others, and left
to no one my share of daily observations. The frigate might
have been called the Argus, for a hundred reasons. Only one
amongst us, Conseil, seemed to protest by his indifference
against the question which so interested us all, and seemed
to be out of keeping with the general enthusiasm on board.

I have said that Captain Farragut had carefully provided
his ship with every apparatus for catching the gigantic ceta¬
cean. No whaler had ever been better armed. We possessed
every known engine, from the harpoon thrown by the hand
to the barbed arrows of the blunderbuss, and the explosive
balls of the duck-gun. On the forecastle lay the perfection
of a breech-loading gun, very thick at the breech, and very
narrow in the bore, the model of which had been in the Ex¬
hibition of 1867. This precious weapon of American origin
could throw with ease a conical projectile of nine pounds to
a mean distance of ten miles.

Thus the Abraham Lincoln wanted for no means of de¬
struction; and, what was better still, she had on board Ned
Land, the prince of harpooners.

Ned Land was a Canadian, with an uncommon quickness
of hand, and who knew no equal in his dangerous occupa¬
tion. Skill, coolness, audacity, and cunning, he possessed
in a superior degree, and it must be a cunning whale or a
singularly “cute” cachalot to escape the stroke of his har¬
poon.

Ned Land was about forty years of age; he was a tall man
(more than six feet high) , strongly built, grave and taciturn,
occasionally violent, and very passionate when contra¬
dicted. His person attracted attention, but above all the

20 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

boldness of his look, which gave a singular expression to his

face.

Who calls himself Canadian calls himself French; and
little communicative as Ned Land was, I must admit that
he took a certain liking for me. My nationality drew him to
me, no doubt. It was an opportunity for him to talk, and for
me to hear, that old language of Rabelais, which is still in use
in some Canadian provinces. The harpooner’s family was
originally from Quebec, and was already a tribe of hardy
fishermen when this town belonged to France.

Little by little, Ned Land acquired a taste for chatting,
and I loved to hear the recital of his adventures in the polar
seas. He related his fishing, and his combats, with natural
poetry of expression; his recital took the form of an epic
poem, and I seemed to be listening to a Canadian Homer
singing the Iliad of the regions of the North.

I am portraying this hardy companion as I really knew
him. We are old friends now, united in that unchangeable
friendship which is bom and cemented amidst extreme dan¬
gers. Ah, brave Nedl I ask no more than to live a hundred
years longer, that I may have more time to dwell the longer
on your memory.

Now, what was Ned Land’s opinion upon the question of
the marine monster? I must admit that he did not believe in
the unicorn, and was the only one on board who did not
share that universal conviction. He even avoided the sub¬
ject, which I one day thought it my duty to press upon
him. One magnificent evening, the 30th of July — that is to
say, three weeks after our departure — the frigate was
abreast of Cape Blanc, thirty miles to leeward of the coast
of Patagonia. We had crossed the tropic of Capricorn, and
the Straits of Magellan opened less than seven hundred miles
to the south. Before eight days were over, the Abraham Lin¬
coln would be ploughing the waters of the Pacific.

Seated on the poop, Ned Land and I were chatting of one
thing and another as we looked at this mysterious sea, whose
great depths had up to this time been inaccessible to the
eye of man. I naturally led up the conversation to the giant
unicorn, and examined the various chances of success or
failure of the expedition. But seeing that Ned Land let me
speak without saying too much himself, I pressed him more
closely.

NED LAND

21

“Well, Ned,” said I, “is it possible that you are not con¬
vinced of the existence of the cetacean that we are follow¬
ing? Have you any particular reason for being so incredu¬
lous?”

The harpooner looked at me fixedly for some moments
before answering, struck his broad forehead with his hand
(a habit of his), as if to collect himself, and said at last,
“Perhaps I have, M. Aronnax.”

“But, Ned, you, St whaler by profession, familiarised
with all the great marine mammalia — you, whose imagina¬
tion might easily accept the hypothesis of enormous ceta¬
ceans, you ought to be the last to doubt under such circum¬
stances!”

“That is just what deceives you, Professor,” replied Ned.
“That the vulgar should believe in extraordinary com¬
ets traversing space, and in the existence of antediluvian
monsters in the heart of the globe, may well be; but neither
astronomer nor geologist believes in such chimeras. As a
whaler I have followed many a cetacean, harpooned a great
number, and killed several; but however strong or well-
armed they have been, neither their tails nor their weapons
would have been able even to scratch the iron plates of a
steamer.”

“But, Ned, they tell of ships which the teeth of the nar¬
whal has pierced through and through.”

“Wooden ships — that is possible,” replied the Canadian;
“but I have never seen it done; and, until further proof, I
deny that whales, cetaceans, or sea-unicorns, could ever
produce the effect you describe.”

“Well, Ned, I repeat it with a conviction resting on the
logic of facts. I believe in the existence of a mammal power¬
fully organised, belonging to the branch of vetebrata, like
the whales, the cachalots, or the dolphins, and furnished
with a horn of defiance of great penetrating power.”

“Hum I” said the harpooner, shaking his head with the
air of a man who would not be convinced.

“Notice one thing, my worthy Canadian,” I resumed. “If
such an animal is in existence, if it inhabits the depths of
the ocean, if it frequents the strata lying miles below the
surface of the water, it must necessarily possess an organisa¬
tion the strength of which would defy all comparison.”

“And why this powerful organisation?” demanded Ned.

22 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“Because it requires incalculable strength to keep one’s
self in these strata and resist their pressure. Listen to me.
Let us admit that the pressure of the atmosphere is repre¬
sented by the weight of a column of water thirty-two feet
high. In reality the column of water would be shorter, as
we are speaking of sea water, the density of which is greater
than that of fresh water. Very well, when you dive, Ned, as
many times thirty-two feet of water as there are above you,
so many times does your body bear & pressure equal to that
of the atmosphere, that is to say, IS lbs. for each square inch
of its surface. It follows then, that at 320 feet this pressure
= that of 10 atmospheres, of 100 atmospheres at 3200 feet,
and of 1000 atmospheres at 32,000 feet, that is, about 6
miles; which is equivalent to saying that, if you could at¬
tain this depth in the ocean, each square of an inch of the
surface of your body would bear a pressure of 5600 lbs. Ah!
my brave Ned, do you know how many square inches you
carry on the surface of your body?”

“I have no idea, M. Aronnax.”

“About 6500; and, as in reality the atmospheric pressure
is about 15 lbs. to the square inch, your 6500 square inches
bear at this moment a pressure of 97,500 lbs.”

“Without my perceiving it?”

‘“Without your perceiving it. And if you are not crushed
by such a pressure, it is because the air penetrates the in¬
terior of your body with equal pressure. Hence perfect equi¬
librium between the interior and exterior pressure, which
thus neutralise each other, and which allows you to bear it
without inconvenience. But in the water it is another thing.”

“Yes, I understand,” replied Ned, becoming more at¬
tentive; “because the water surrounds me, but does not
penetrate.”

“Precisely, Ned; so that at 32 feet beneath the surface of
the sea you would undergo a pressure of 97,500 lbs.; at 320
feet, ten times that pressure; at 3200 feet, a hundred times
that pressure; lastly, at 32,000 feet, a thousand times that
pressure would be 97,500,000 lbs. — that is to say, that you
would be flattened as if you had been drawn from the plates
of a hydraulic machine! ”

“The devil! ” exclaimed Ned.

“Very well, my worthy harpooner, if some vertebrate,
several hundred yards long, and large in proportion, can

AX A VENTURE

23

maintain itself in such depths — of those whose surface is
represented by millions of square inches, that is, by tens of
millions of pounds, we must estimate the pressure they un¬
dergo. Consider, then, what must be the resistance of their
bony structure, and the strength of their organisation to
withstand such pressure!”

“Whyl ” exclaimed Ned Land, “they must be made of iron
plates eight inches thick, like the armoured frigates.”

“As you say, Ned. And think what destruction such a
mass would cause, if hurled with the speed of an express
train against the hull of a vessel.”

“Yes — certainly — perhaps,” replied the Canadian, shak¬
en by these figures, but not yet willing to give in.

“Well, have I convinced you?”

“You have convinced me of one thing, sir, which is that,
if such animals do exist at the bottom of the seas, they must
necessarily be as strong as you say.”

“But if they do not exist, mine obstinate harpooner,
how explain the accident to the Scotia?”

5. At a Venture

The voyage of the Abraham Lincoln was for a long time
marked by no special incident. But one circumstance hap¬
pened which showed the wonderful dexterity of Ned Land,
and proved what confidence we might place in him.

The 30th of June, the frigate spoke to some American
whalers, from whom we learned that they knew nothing
about the narwhal. But one of them, the captain of the Mon¬
roe, knowing that Ned Land had shipped on board the Abra¬
ham Lincoln, begged for his help in chasing a whale they had
in sight. Commander Farragut, desirous of seeing Ned Land
at work, gave him permission to go on board the Monroe.
And fate served our Canadian so well that, instead of one
whale, he harpooned two with a double blow, striking one
straight to the heart, and catching the other after some min¬
utes’ pursuit.

Decidedly, if the monster ever had to do with Ned Land’s
harpoon, I would not bet in its favour.

The frigate skirted the south-east coast of America with
great rapidity. The 3d of July we were at the opening of the
Straits of Magellan, level with Cape Vierges. But Com-

24

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
mander Farragut would not take a tortuous passage, but
doubled Cape Horn.

The ship’s crew agreed with him. And certainly it was
possible that they might meet the narwhal in this narrow
pass. Many of the sailors affirmed that the monster could
not pass there, “that he was too big for that I”

The 6th of July, about three o’clock in the afternoon, the
Abraham Lincoln, at fifteen miles to the south, doubled the
solitary Island, this lost rock at the extremity of the Ameri¬
can continent, to which some Dutch sailors gave the name
of their native town, Cape Horn. The course was taken
towards the north-west, and the next day the screw of the
frigate was at last beating the waters of the Pacific.

“Keep your eyes openl ” called out the sailors.

And they were opened widely. Both eyes and glasses, a
little dazzled, it is true, by the prospect of two thousand
dollars, had not an instant’s repose. Day and night they
watched the surface of the ocean, and even nyctalopes,
whose faculty of seeing in the darkness multiplies their
chances a hundredfold, would have had enough to do to gain
the prize.

I myself, for whom money had no charms, was not the
least attentive on board. Giving but few minutes to my
meals, but a few hours to sleep, indifferent to either rain or
sunshine, I did not leave the poop of the vessel. Now lean¬
ing on the netting of the forecastle, now on the taffrail, I
devoured with eagerness the soft foam which whitened the
sea as far as the eye could reach; and how often have I
shared the emotion of the majority of the crew, when some
capricious whale raised its black back above the waves I
The poop of the vessel was crowded in a moment. The cab¬
ins poured forth a torrent of sailors and officers, each with
heaving breast and troubled eye watching the course of the
cetacean. I looked, and looked, till I was nearly blind, whilst
Conseil, always phlegmatic, kept repeating in a calm voice:

“If, sir, you would not squint so much, you would see
better!”

But vain excitement! the Abraham Lincoln checked its
speed and made for the animal signalled, a simple whale,
or common cachalot, which soon disappeared amidst a storm
of execration.

AX A VENTURE

25

But the weather was good. The voyage was being accom¬
plished under the most favourable auspices. It was then the
bad season in Australia, the July of that zone corresponding
to our January in Europe; but the sea was beautiful and eas¬
ily scanned round a vast circumference.

The 20th July, the tropic of Capricorn was cut by 105°
of longitude, and the 27th of the same month we crossed the
equator on the 110th meridian. This passed, the frigate took
a more decided westerly direction, and scoured the central
waters of the Pacific. Commander Farragut thought, and with
reason, that it was better to remain in deep water, and keep
clear of continents or islands, which the beast itself
seemed to shun (perhaps because there was not enough wa¬
ter for himl suggested the greater part of the crew). The
frigate passed at some distance from Marquesas and the
Sandwich Islands, crossed the tropic of Cancer, and made
for the China Seas. We were on the theatre of the last diver¬
sions of the monster; and to say truth, we no longer lived
on board. Hearts palpitated, fearfully preparing them¬
selves for future incurable aneurism. The entire ship’s crew
were undergoing a nervous excitement, of which I can give
no idea: they could not eat, they could not sleep — twenty
times a day, a misconception or an optical illusion of some
sailor seated on the taffrail, would cause dreadful perspira¬
tions, and these emotions, twenty times repeated, kept us in
a state of excitement so violent that a reaction was unavoid¬
able.

And truly, reaction soon showed itself. For three months,
during which a day seemed an age, the Abraham Lincoln
furrowed all the waters of the Northern Pacific, running at
whales, making sharp deviations from her course, veering
suddenly from one tack to another, stopping suddenly, put¬
ting on steam, and backing ever and anon at the risk of
deranging her machinery; and not one point of the Japanese
or American coast was left unexplored.

The warmest partisans of the enterprise now became its
most ardent detractors. Reaction mounted from the crew
to the captain himself, and certainly, had it not been for
resolute determination on the part of Captain Farragut, the
frigate would have headed due southward. This useless
search could not last much longer. The Abraham Lincoln

26 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

had nothing to reproach herself with, she had done her best
to succeed. Never had an American ship’s crew shown more
zeal or patience; its failure could not be placed to their
charge — there remained nothing but to return.

This was represented to the commander. The sailors could
not hide their discontent, and the service suffered. I will not
say there was a mutiny on board, but after a reasonable
period of obstinacy, Captain Farragut (as Columbus did)
asked for three days’ patience. If in three days the monster
did not appear, the man at the helm should give three turns
of the wheel, and the Abraham Lincoln would make for the
European seas.

This promise was made on the 2d of November. It had
the effect of rallying the ship’s crew. The ocean was watched
with renewed attention. Each one wished for a last glance
in which to sum up his remembrance. Glasses were used
with feverish activity. It was a grand defiance given to the
giant narwhal, and he could scarcely fail to answer the sum¬
mons and “appear.”

Two days passed, the steam was at half pressure; a thou¬
sand schemes were tried to attract the attention and stimu¬
late the apathy of the animal in case it should be met in
those parts. Large quantities of bacon were trailed in the
wake of the ship, to the great satisfaction (I must say) of
the sharks. Small craft radiated in all directions round the
Abraham Lincoln as she lay to, and did not leave a spot of
the sea unexplored. But the night of the 4th of November
arrived without the unveiling of this submarine mystery.

The next day, the Sth of November, at twelve the delay
would (morally speaking) expire; after that time, Com¬
mander Farragut, faithful to his promise, was to turn the
course to the southeast and abandon for ever the northern
regions of the Pacific.

The frigate was then in 31° 15' north latitude and 136°
42' east longitude. The coast of Japan still remained less than
two hundred miles to leeward. Night was approa.ching. They
had just struck eight bells ; large clouds veiled the face of
the moon, then in its first quarter. The sea undulated peace¬
ably under the stern of the vessel.

At that moment I was leaning forward on the starboard
netting. Conseil, standing near me, was looking straight be-

AT A VENTURE

27

fore him. The crew, perched in the ratlines, examined the
horizon, which contracted and darkened by degrees. Officers
with their night glasses scoured the growing darkness; some¬
times the ocean sparkled under the rays of the moon, which
darted between two clouds, then all trace of light was lost in
the darkness.

In looking at Conseil, I could see he was undergoing a
little of the general influence. At least I thought so. Perhaps
for the first time his nerves vibrated to a sentiment of curi¬
osity.

“Come, Conseil,” said I, “this is the last chance of pocket¬
ing the two thousand dollars.”

“May I be permitted to say, sir,” replied Conseil, “that I
never reckoned on getting the prize; and, had the Govern¬
ment of the Union offered a hundred thousand dollars, it
would have been none the poorer.”

“You are right, Conseil. It is a foolish affair after all, and
one upon which we entered too lightly. What time lost, what
useless emotions! We should have been back in France six
months ago.”

“In your little room, sir,” replied Conseil, “and in your
museum, sir, and I should have already classed all your fos¬
sils, sir. And the Babiroussa would have been installed in
its cage in the Jardin des Plantes, and have drawn all the
curious people of the capital! ”

“As you say, Conseil. I fancy we will run a fair chance
of being laughed at for our pains.”

“That’s tolerably certain,” replied Conseil, quietly; “I
think they will make fun of you, sir. And, must I say it?”

“Go on, my good friend.”

“Well, sir, you will only get your deserts.”

“Indeed!”

“When one has the honour of being a savant as you are,
sir, one should not expose one’s self to — ”

Conseil had not time to finish his compliment. In the
midst of general silence a voice had just been heard. It was
the voice of Ned Land shouting —

“Look out there! the very thing we are looking for — on
our weather beam! ”

6. At Full Steam

At this cry the whole ship’s crew hurried toward the har-
pooner, — commander, officers, masters, sailors, cabin boys;
even the engineers left their engines, and the stokers their
furnaces.

The order to stop her had been given, and the frigate now
simply went on by her own momentum. The darkness was
then profound, and however good the Canadian’s eyes were,
I asked myself how he had managed to see, and what he had
been able to see. My heart beat as if it would break. But Ned
Land was not mistaken, and we all perceived the object he
pointed to. At two cables’ lengths from the Abraham Lincoln,
on the starboard quarter, the sea seemed to be illuminated
all over. It was not a mere phosphoric phenomenon. The
monster emerged some fathoms from the water, and then
threw out that very intense but inexplicable light mentioned
in the report of several captains. This magnificent irradiation
must have been produced by an agent of great shining
power. The luminous part traced on the sea an immense oval,
much elongated, the centre of which condensed a burning
heat, whose overpowering brilliancy died out by successive
gradations.

“It is only an agglomeration of phosphoric particles,”
cried one of the officers.

“No, sir, certainly not,” I replied. “Never did pholades
or salpse produce such a powerful light. That brightness is
of an essentially electrical nature. Besides, see, seel it
proves; it is moving forwards, backwards, it is darting
towards us I”

A general cry rose from the frigate.

“Silence!” said the Captain; “up with the helm, reverse
the engines.”

, The steam was shut off, and the Abraham Lincoln, beating
to port, described a semicircle.

“Right the helm, go ahead,” cried the Captain.

These orders were executed, and the frigate moved rap¬
idly from the burning light.

I was mistaken. She tried to sheer off, but the supernat¬
ural animal approached with a velocity double her own.

28

AT FULL STEAM

29

We gasped for breath. Stupefaction more than fear made
us dumb and motionless. The animal gained on us, sporting
with the waves. It made the round of the frigate, which was
then making fourteen knots, and enveloped it with its elec¬
tric rings like luminous dust. Then it moved away two or
three miles, leaving a phosphorescent track, like those vol¬
umes of steam that the express trains leave behind. All at
once from the dark line of the horizon whither it retired to
gain its momentum, the monster rushed suddenly towards
the Abraham Lincoln with alarming rapidity, stopped sud¬
denly about twenty feet from the hull, and died out, — not
diving under the water, for its brilliancy did not abate, — but
suddenly, and as if the source of this brilliant emanation was
exhausted. Then it reappeared on the other side of the ves¬
sel, as if it had turned and slid under the hull. Any moment
a collision might have occurred which would have been fa¬
tal to us. However, I was astonished at the manoeuvres of
the frigate. She fled and did not attack.

On the Captain’s face, generally so impassive, was an ex¬
pression of unaccountable astonishment.

“Mr. Aronnax,” he said, “I do not know with what for¬
midable being I have to deal, and I will not imprudently risk
my frigate in the midst of this darkness. Besides, how at¬
tack this unknown thing, how defend one’s self from it?
Wait for daylight, and the scene will change.”

“You have no further doubt, Captain, of the nature of
the animal?”

“No, sir; it is evidently a gigantic narwhal, and an elec¬
tric one.”

“Perhaps,” added I, “one can only approach it with a
gymnotus or a torpedo.”

“Undoubtedly,” replied the captain, “if it possesses such
dreadful power, it is the most terrible animal that ever was
created. That is why, sir, I must be on my guard.”

The crew were on their feet all night. No one thought of
sleep. The Abraham Lincoln, not being able to struggle with
such velocity, had moderated its pace, and sailed at half
speed. For its part, the narwhal, imitating the frigate, let
the waves rock it at will, and seemed decided not to leave
the scene of the struggle. Towards midnight, however, it
disappeared, or, to use a more appropriate term, it “died
out” like a large glow-worm. Had it fled? One could only

30 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

fear, not hope. But at seven minutes to one o’clock in the
morning a deafening whistling was heard, like that pro¬
duced by a body of water rushing with great violence.

The Captain, Ned Land, and I, were then on the poop,
eagerly peering through the profound darkness.

“Ned Land,” asked the commander, “you have often
heard the roaring of whales?”

“Often, sir; but never such whales the sight of which
brought me in two thousand dollars. If I can only approach
within four harpoon lengths of itl ”

“But to approach it,” said the commander, “I ought to
put a whaler at your disposal?”

“Certainly, sir.”

“That wiU be trifling with the lives of my men.”

“And mine too,” simply said the harpooner.

Towards two o’clock in the morning, the burning light
reappeared, not less intense, about five miles to windward
of the Abraham Lincoln. Notwithstanding the distance, and
the noise of the wind and sea, one heard distinctly the
loud strokes of the animal’s tail, and even its panting breath.
It seemed that, at the moment that the enormous narwhal
had come to take breath at the surface of the water, the
air was engulfed in its lungs, like the steam in the vast
cylinders of a machine of two thousand horse-power.

“Hum!” thought I, “a whale with the strength of a cav¬
alry regiment would be a pretty whale!”

We were on the qui vive till daylight, and prepared for
the combat. The fishing implements were laid along the
hammock nettings. The second lieutenant loaded the blun¬
derbusses, which could throw harpoons to a distance of a
mile, and long duck-guns, with explosive bullets, which in¬
flicted mortal wounds even to the most terrible animals.
Ned Land contented himself with sharpening his harpoon —
a terrible weapon in his hands.

At six o’clock day began to break; and with the first glim¬
mer of light, the electric light of the narwhal disappeared.
At seven o’clock the day was sufficiently advanced, but a very
thick sea fog obscured our view, and the best spy-glasses
could not pierce it. That caused disappointment and an¬
ger.

I climbed the mizzen-mast. Some officers were already
perched on the mast heads. At eight o’clock the fog lay heav-

AX FULL STEAM 31

ily on the waves, and its thick scrolls rose little by little. The
horizon grew wider and clearer at the same time. Suddenly,
just as on the day before, Ned Land’s voice was heard:

“The thing itself on the port quarter!” cried the har-
pooner.

Every eye was turned towards the point indicated.
There, a mile and a half from the frigate, a long blackish
body emerged a yard above the waves. Its tail, violently agi¬
tated, produced a considerable eddy. Never did a caudal
appendage beat the sea with such violence. An im¬
mense track, of a dazzling whiteness, marked the passage of
the animal, and described a long curve.

The frigate approached the cetacean. I examined it thor¬
oughly.

The reports of the Shannon and of the Helvetia had rather
exaggerated its size, and I estimated its length at only
two hundred and fifty feet. As to its dimensions, I
could only conjecture them to be admirably proportioned.
While I watched this phenomenon, two jets of steam and
water were ejected from its vents, and rose to the height of
120 feet, thus I ascertained its way of breathing. I concluded
definitely that it belonged to the vertebrate branch, class
mammalia.

The crew waited impatiently for their chief’s orders. The
latter, after having observed the animal attentively, called
the engineer. The engineer ran to him.

“Sir,” said the commander, “you have steam up?”

“Yes, sir,” answered the engineer.

“Well, make up your fires and put on all steam.”

Three hurrahs greeted this order. The time for the strug¬
gle had arrived. Some moments after, the two funnels of the
frigate vomited torrents of black smoke, and the bridge
quaked under the trembling of the boilers.

The Abraham Lincoln, propelled by her powerful screw,
went straight at the animal. The latter allowed it to come
within half a cable’s length; then, as if disdaining to
dive, it took a little turn, and stopped a short distance off.

This pursuit lasted nearly three-quarters of an hour,
without the frigate gaining two yards on the cetacean. It
was quite evident that at that rate we should never come
up with it.

32 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“Well, Mr. Land,” asked the Captain, “do you advise me
to put the boats out to sea?”

“No, sir,” replied Ned Land; “because we shall not take
that beast easily.”

“What shall we do then?”

“Put on mogre steam if you can, sir. With your leave, I
mean to post myself under the bowsprit, and if we get within
harpooning distance I shall throw my harpoon.”

“Go, Ned,” said the Captain. “Engineer, put on more
pressure.”

Ned Land went to his post. The fires were increased, the
screw revolved forty-three times a minute, and the steam
poured out of the valves. We heaved the log, and calculated
that the Abraham Lincoln was going at the rate of 18j4
miles an hour.

But the accursed animal swam too at the rate of 18J4
miles.

For a whole hour, the frigate kept up this pace, without
gaining six feet. It was humiliating for one of the swiftest
sailers in the American navy. A stubborn anger seized the
crew; the sailors abused the monster, who, as before, dis¬
dained to answer them; the captain no longer contented
himself with twisting his beard — he gnawed it.

The engineer was again called.

“You have turned full steam in?”

“Yes, sir,” replied the engineer.

The speed of the Abraham Lincoln increased. Its masts
trembled down to their stepping holes, and the clouds of
smoke could hardly find way out of the narrow funnels.

They heaved the log a second time.

“Well?” asked the Captain of the man at the wheel.

“Nineteen miles and three-tenths, sir.”

“Clap on more steam.”

The engineer obeyed. The manometer showed ten de¬
grees. But the cetacean grew warm itself, no doubt; for
without straining itself it made 19%0 miles.

What a pursuitl No, I cannot describe the emotion that
vibrated through me. Ned Land kept his post, harpoon in
hand. Several times the animal let us gain upon it. — “We
shall catch it I we shall catch it!” cried the Canadian. But
just as he was going to strike, the cetacean stole away with
a rapidity that could not be estimated at less than thirty

AT FULL STEAM

33

miles an hour, and even during our maximum of speed, it
bullied the frigate, going round and round it. A cry of fury
broke from every onel

At noon we were no further advanced than at eight
o’clock in the morning.

The Captain then decided to take more direct means.

“Ah I” said he, “that animal goes quicker than the Abra¬
ham Lincoln. Very welll we will see whether it will escape
these conical bullets. Send your men to the forecastle, sir.”

The forecastle gun was immediately loaded and slewed
round. But the shot passed some feet above the cetacean,
which was half a mile off.

“Another more to the right,” cried the Commander, “and
five dollars to whoever will hit that infernal beast.”

An old gunner with a grey beard — that I can see now —
with steady eye and grave face, went up to the gun and
took a long aim. A loud report was heard, with which were
mingled the cheers of the crew.

The bullet did its work; it hit the animal, but not fatally,
and sliding off the rounded surface, was lost in two miles
depth of sea.

The chase began again, and the Captain leaning towards
me, said —

“I will pursue that beast till my frigate bursts up.”

“Yes,” answered I; “and you will be quite right to do
it.”

I wished the beast would exhaust itself, and not be
insensible to fatigue like a steam enginel But it was of no
use. Hours passed, without its showing any signs of exhaus¬
tion.

However, it must be said in praise of the Abraham Lincoln,
that she struggled on indefatigably. I cannot reckon the dis¬
tance she made under three hundred miles during this un¬
lucky day, November the 6th. But night came on, and over¬
shadowed the rough ocean.

Now I thought our expedition was at an end, and that we
should never again see the extraordinary animal. I was mis¬
taken. At ten minutes to eleven in the evening the electric
light reappeared three miles to windward of the frigate, as
pure, as intense as during the preceding night.

The narwhal seemed motionless; perhaps, tired with its
day’s work, it slept, letting itself float with the undulation

34 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

of the waves. Now was a chance of which the captain re¬
solved to take advantage.

He gave his orders. The Abraham Lincoln kept up half
steam, and advanced cautiously so as not to awake its ad¬
versary. It is no rare thing to meet in the middle of the ocean
whales so sound asleep that they can be successfully at¬
tacked, and Ned Land had harpooned more than one dur¬
ing its sleep. The Canadian went to take his place under the
bowsprit.

The frigate approached noiselessly, stopped at two ca¬
bles’ lengths from the animal, and followed its track. No
one breathed; a deep silence reigned on the bridge. We were
not a hundred feet from the burning focus, the light
of which increased and dazzled our eyes.

At this moment, leaning on the forecastle bulwark, I saw
below me Ned Land grappling the martingale in one hand,
brandishing his terrible harpoon in the other, scarcely
twenty feet from the motionless animal. Suddenly his
arm straightened, and the harpoon was thrown; I heard the
sonorous stroke of the weapon, which seemed to have struck
a hard body. The electric light went out suddenly, and two
enormous waterspouts broke over the bridge of the frigate,
rushing like a torrent from stem to stern, overthrowing men,
and breaking the lashing of the spars. A fearful shock fol¬
lowed, and, thrown over the rail without having time to stop
myself, I fell into the sea.

7. An Unknown Species of Whale

This unexpected fall so stunned me that I have no clear
recollection of my sensations at the time. I was at first
drawn down to a depth of about twenty feet. I am a good
swimmer (though without pretending to rival Byron or Ed¬
gar Poe, who were masters of the art), and in that plunge
I did not lose my presence of mind. Two vigorous strokes
brought me to the surface of the water. My first care was to
look for the frigate. Had the crew seen me disappear? Had
the Abraham Lincoln veered round? Would the Captain put
out a boat? Might I hope to be saved?

The darkness was intense. I caught a glimpse of a black
mass disappearing in the east, its beacon lights dying out
in the distance. It was the frigate I I was lost.

AN UNKNOWN SPECIES OF WHALE 35

“Help, help!” I shouted, swimming towards the Abra¬
ham Lincoln in desperation.

My clothes encumbered me; they seemed glued to my
body, and paralysed my movements.

I was sinkingl I was suffocating!

“Help!”

This was my last cry. My mouth filled with water;
I struggled against being drawn down the abyss. Suddenly
my clothes were seized by a strong hand, and I felt myself
drawn up to the surface of the sea; and I heard, yes, I heard
these words pronounced in my ear —

“If master would be so good as to lean on my shoulder,
master would swim with much greater ease.”

I seized with one hand my faithful Conseil’s arm.

“Is it you?” said I, “you?”

“Myself,” answered Conseil; “and waiting master’s or¬
ders.”

“That shock threw you as well as me into the sea?”

“No; but being in my master’s service, I followed him.”

- The worthy fellow thought that was but natural.

“And the frigate?” I asked.

“The frigate?” replied Conseil, turning on his back; “I
think that master had better not count too much on her.”

“You think so?”

“I say that, at the time I threw myself into the sea, I
heard the men at the wheel say, ‘The screw and the rud¬
der are broken.’ ”

“Broken?”

“Yes, broken by the monster’s teeth. It is the only in¬
jury the Abraham Lincoln has sustained. But it is bad look
out for us — she no longer answers her helm.”

“Then we are lostl ”

“Perhaps so,” calmly answered Conseil. “However, we
have still several hours before us, and one can do a good deal
in some hours.”

Conseil’s imperturbable coolness set me up again. I swam
more vigorously; but, cramped by my clothes, which stuck
to me like a leaden weight, I felt great difficulty in bearing
up. Conseil saw this.

“Will master let me make a slit?” said he; and slipping an
open knife under my clothes, he ripped them up from top

36 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

to bottom very rapidly. Then he cleverly slipped them off

me, while I swam for both of us.

Then I did the same for Conseil, and we continued to
swim near to each other.

Nevertheless, our situation was no less terrible. Perhaps
our disappearance had not been noticed; and if it had been,
the frigate could not tack, being without its helm. Conseil
argued on this supposition, and laid his plans accordingly.
This phlegmatic boy was perfectly self-possessed. We then
decided that, as our only chance of safety was being picked
up by the Abraham Lincoln's boats, we ought to manage so
as to wait for them as long as possible.' I resolved then to
husband our strength, so that both should not be exhausted
at the same time; and this is how we managed: while one of
us lay on his back, quite still, with arms crossed, and legs
stretched out, the other would swim and push the other
on in front. This towing business did not last more than ten
minutes each; and relieving each other thus, we could
swim on for some hours, perhaps till daybreak. Poor chance!
but hope is so firmly rooted in the heart of man! Moreover,
there were two of us. Indeed I declare (though it may
seem improbable) if I sought to destroy all hope, — if I
wished to despair, I could not.

The collision of the frigate with the cetacean had oc¬
curred about eleven o’clock the evening before. I reckoned
then we should have eight hours to swim before sunrise, an
operation quite practicable if we relieved each other. The
sea, very calm, was in our favour. Sometimes I tried to
pierce the intense darkness that was only dispelled by the
phosphorescence caused by our movements. I watched the
luminous waves that broke over my hand, whose mirror-like
surface was spotted with silvery rings. One might have said
that we were in a bath of quicksilver.

Near one o’clock in the morning, I was seized with
dreadful fatigue. My limbs stiffened under the strain of
violent cramp. Conseil was obliged to keep me up, and our
preservation devolved on him alone. I heard the poor boy
pant; his breathing became short and hurried. I found
that he could not keep up much longer.

“Leave me! leave me! ” I said to him.

“Leave my master? never!” replied he. “I would drown
first.”

AN UNKNOWN SPECIES OF WHALE 37

Just then the moon appeared through the fringes of
a thick cloud that the wind was driving to the east. The sur¬
face of the sea glittered with its rays. This kindly light re¬
animated us. My head got better again. I looked at all the
points of the horizon. I saw the frigate 1 She was five miles
from us, and looked like a dark mass, hardly discernible.
But no boats 1

I would have cried out. But what good would it have been
at such a distance 1 My swollen lips could utter no sounds.
Conseil could articulate some words, and I heard him repeat
at intervals: “Help! help I ’*

Our movements were suspended for an instant; we lis¬
tened. It might be only a singing in the ear, but it seemed
to me as if a cry answered the cry from Conseil.

“Did you hear?” I murmured.

“Yes! Yes!”

And Conseil gave one more despairing call.

This time there was no mistake! A human voice responded
to ours! Was it the voice of another unfortunate creature,
abandoned in the middle of the ocean, some other victim of
the shock sustained by the vessel? Or rather was it a boat
from the frigate, that was hailing us in the darkness?

Conseil made a last effort, and leaning on my shoulder,
while I struck out in a despairing effort, he raised himself
half out of the water, then fell back exhausted.

“What did you see?”

“I saw” — murmured he; “I saw — but do not talk — re¬
serve all your strength! ”

What had he seen? Then, I know not why, the thought of
the monster came into my head for the first time! But that
voice? The time is past for Jonahs to take refuge in whales’
bellies! However, Conseil was towing me again. He raised his
head sometimes, looked before us, and uttered a cry of rec¬
ognition, which was responded to by a voice that came
nearer and nearer. I scarcely heard it. My strength was
exhausted; my fingers stiffened; my hand afforded me sup¬
port no longer; my mouth, convulsively opening, filled with
salt water. Cold crept over me. I raised my head for the last
time, then I sank.

At this moment a hard body struck me. I clung to it: then
I felt that I was being drawn up, that I was brought to the
surface of the water, that my chest collapsed: — I fainted.

38 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

It is certain that I soon came to, thanks to the vigorous
rubbings that I received. I half opened my eyes.

“Conseill ” I murmured.

“Does master call me?” asked Conseil.

Just then, by the waning light of the moon, which was
sinking down to the horizon, I saw a face which was not
ConseiPs and which I immediately recognised.

“Ned!” I cried.

“The same, sir, who is seeking his prize!” replied the
Canadian.

“Were you thrown into the sea by the shock of the frig¬
ate?”

“Yes, Professor; but more fortunate than you, I was able
to find a footing almost directly upoqa floating island.”

“An island?”

“Or, more correctly speaking, on our gigantic narwhal.”

“Explain yourself, Ned! ”

“Only I soon found out why my harpoon had not en¬
tered its skin and was only blunted.”

“Why, Ned, why?”

“Because, Professor, that beast is made of sheet iron.”

The Canadian’s last words produced a sudden revolution
in my brain. I wriggled myself quickly to the top of the be¬
ing, or object, half out of the water, which served us for a
refuge. I kicked it. It was evidently a hard impenetrable
body, and not the soft substance that forms the bodies of the
great marine mammalia. But this hard body might be a bony
carapace, like that of the antediluvian animals; and I should
be free to class this monster among amphibious reptiles,
such as tortoises or alligators.

Well, no! the blackish back that supported me was
smooth, polished, without scales. The blow produced a me¬
tallic sound; and incredible though it may be, it seemed, I
might say, as if it was made of riveted plates.

There was no doubt about it! this monster, this natural
phenomenon that had puzzled the learned world, §nd over¬
thrown and misled the imagination of seamen of both hemi¬
spheres, was, it must be owned, a still more astonishing
phenomenon, inasmuch as it was a simply human construc¬
tion.

We had no time to lose, however. We were lying upon the
back of a sort of submarine boat, which appeared (as far

AN UNKNOWN SPECIES OF WHALE 39

as I could judge) like a huge fish of steel. Ned Land’s mind
was made up on this point. Conseil and I could only agree
with him.

Just then a bubbling began at the back of this strange
thing (which was evidently propelled by a screw), and it
began to move. We had only just time to seize hold of
the upper part, which rose about seven feet out of the wa¬
ter, and happily its speed was not great.

“As long as it sails horizontally,” muttered Ned Land, “I •
do not mind; but if it takes a fancy to dive, I would not give
two straws for my life.”

The Canadian might have said still less. It became really
necessary to communicate with the beings, whatever they
were, shut up inside the machine. I searched all over the
outside for an aperture, a panel or a man-hole, to use a
technical expression; but the lines of the iron rivets, solidly
driven into the joints of the iron plates, were clear and uni¬
form. Besides, the moon disappeared then, and left us in
total darkness.

At last this long night passed. My indistinct remembrance
prevents my describing all the impressions it made. I can
only recall one circumstance. During some lulls of the wind
and sea, I fancied I heard several times vague sounds, a sort
of fugitive harmony produced by distant words of com¬
mand. What was then the mystery of this submarine craft,
of which the whole world vainly sought an explanation?
What kind of beings existed in this strange, boat? What me¬
chanical agent caused its prodigious speed?

Daybreak appeared. The morning mists surrounded us,
but they soon cleared off. I was about to examine the hull,
which formed on deck a kind of horizontal platform, when
I felt it gradually sinking.

“Ohl confound itl” cried Ned Land, kicking the resound¬
ing plate; “open, you inhospitable rascalsl ”

Happily the sinking movement ceased. Suddenly a noise,
like iron works violently pushed aside, came from the in¬
terior of the boat. One iron plate was moved, a man ap¬
peared, uttered an odd cry, and disappeared immediately.

Some moments after, eight strong men, with masked
faces, appeared noiselessly, and drew us down into their
formidable machine.

8. Mobilis in Mobili

This forcible abduction, so roughly carried out, was ac¬
complished with the rapidity of lightning. I shivered all
over. Whom had we to deal with? No doubt some new sort
of pirates, who explored the sea in their own way.

Hardly had the narrow panel closed upon me, when I
was enveloped in darkness. My eyes, dazzled with the outer
light, could distinguish nothing. I felt my naked feet cling
to the rungs of an iron ladder. Ned Land and Conseil, firmly
seized, followed me. At the bottom of the ladder, a
door opened, and shut after us immediately with a bang.

We were alone. Where, I could not say, hardly imagine.
All was black, and such a dense black that, after some min¬
utes, my eyes had not been able to discern even the faint¬
est glimmer.

Meanwhile, Ned Land, furious at these proceedings, gave
vent to his indignation.

“Confound it!” cried he, “here are people who come up
to the Scotch for hospitality. They only just miss being can¬
nibals. I should not be surprised at it, but I declare that they
shall not eat me without my protesting.”

“Calm yourself, friend Ned, calm yourself,” replied
Conseil, quietly. “Do not cry out before you are hurt. We
are not quite done for yet.”

“Not quite,” sharply replied the Canadian, “but pretty
near, at all events. Things look black. Happily, my bowie-
knife I have still, and I can always see well enough to use it.
The first of these pirates who lays a hand on me - ”

“Do not excite yourself, Ned,” I said to the harpooner,
“and do not compromise us by useless violence. Who knows
that they will not listen to us? Let us rather try to find out
where we are.”

I groped about. In five steps I came to an iron wall, made
of plates bolted together. Then turning back I struck against
a wooden table, near which were ranged several stools. The
boards of this prison were concealed under a thick mat of
phormium, which deadened the noise of the feet. The bare
walls revealed no trace of window or door. Conseil, going
round the reverse way, met me, and we went back to the
middle of the cabin, which measured about twenty feet by
40

MOBILIS IN MOBILI 41

ten. As to its height, Ned Land, in spite of his own great
height, could not measure it.

Half an hour had already passed without our situation
being bettered, when the dense darkness suddenly gave way
to extreme light. Our prison was suddenly lighted — that
is to say, it became filled with a luminous matter, so strong
that I could not bear it at first. In its whiteness and intensity
I recognised that electric light which played round the
submarine boat like a magnificent phenomenon of phos¬
phorescence. After shutting my eyes involuntarily, I opened
them and saw that this luminous agent came from a half
globe, unpolished, placed in the roof of the cabin.

“At last one can see,” cried Ned Land, who, knife in hand,
stood on the defensive.

“Yes,” said I; “but we are still in the dark about our¬
selves.”

“Let master have patience,” said the imperturbable Con-
seil.

The sudden lighting of the cabin enabled me to examine
it minutely. It only contained a table and five stools. The
invisible door might be hermetically sealed. No noise was
heard. All seemed dead in the interior of this boat. Did it
move, did it float on the surface of the ocean, or did it dive
into its depths? I could not guess.

A noise of bolts was now heard, the door opened, and
two men appeared.

. One was short, very muscular, broad-shouldered, with ro¬
bust limbs, strong head, an abundance of black hair, thick
moustache, a quick penetrating look, and the vivacity which
characterizes the population of Southern France.

The second stranger merits a more detailed description.
A disciple of Gratiolet or Engel would have read his face
like an open book. I made out his prevailing qualities di¬
rectly: — self-confidence, — because his head was well set on
his shoulders, and his black eyes looked around with cold
assurance; calmness, — for his skin, rather pale, showed his
coolness of blood; energy, — evinced by the rapid contrac¬
tion of his lofty brows; and courage, — because his deep
breathing denoted great power of lungs.

Whether this person was thirty-five or fifty years of age,
I could not say. He was tall, had a large forehead, straight
nose, a clearly cut mouth, beautiful teeth, with fine taper

42 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

hands, indicative of a highly nervous temperament. This
man was certainly the most admirable specimen I had ever
met. One particular feature was his eyes, rather far from
each other, and which could take in nearly a quarter of the
horizon at once.

This faculty — (I verified it later) — gave him a range of
vision far superior to Ned Land’s. When this stranger fixed
upon an object his eyebrows met, his large eyelids closed
around so as to contract the range of his vision, and he
looked as if he magnified the objects lessened by distance,
as if he pierced those sheets of water so opaque to our eyes,
and as if he read the very depths of the seas.

The two strangers, with caps made from the fur of the
sea otter, and shod with sea boots of seal’s skin, were
dressed in clothes of a particular texture, which allowed
free movement of the limbs. The taller of the two, evidently
the chief on board, examined us with great attention, with¬
out saying a word: then turning to his companion, talked
with him in an unknown tongue. It was a sonorous, harmoni¬
ous, and flexible dialect, the vowels seeming to admit of
very varied accentuation.

The other replied by a shake of the head, and added two
or three perfectly incomprehensible words. Then he seemed
to question me by a look.

I replied in good French that I did not know his language;
but he seemed not to understand me, and my situation be¬
came more embarrassing.

“If master were to tell our story,” said Conseil, “perhaps
these gentlemen may understand some words.”

I began to tell our adventures, articulating each syllable
clearly, and without omitting one single detail. I announced
our names and rank, introducing in person Professor Aron-
nax, his servant Conseil, and master Ned Land, the har-
pooner.

The man with the soft calm eyes listened to me quietly,
even politely, and with extreme attention; but nothing in
his countenance indicated that he had understood my story.
When I finished, he said not a word. There remained one
resource, to speak English. Perhaps they would know this
almost universal language. I knew it, as well as the German
language, — well enough to read it fluently, but not to speak

MOBILIS IN MOBILI 43

it correctly. But, anyhow, we must make ourselves under¬
stood.

“Go on in your turn,” I said to the harpooner; “speak
your best Anglo-Saxon, and try to do better than I.”

Ned did not beg off, and recommenced our story.

To his great disgust, the harpooner did not seem to have
made himself more intelligible than I had. Our visitors did
not stir. They evidently understood neither the language
of Arago nor of Faraday.

Very much embarrassed, after having vainly exhausted
our philological resources, I knew not what part to take,
when Conseil said —

“If master will permit me, I will relate it in German.”

But in spite of the elegant turns and good accent of the
narrator, the German language had no success. At last, non¬
plussed, I tried to remember my first lessons, and to narrate
our adventures in Latin, but with no better success. This
last attempt being of no avail, the two strangers exchanged
some words in their unknown language, and retired.

The door shut.

“It is an infamous shame,” cried Ned Land, who broke
out for the twentieth time; “we speak to those rogues in
French, English, German, and Latin, and not one of them
has the politeness to answer! ”

“Calm yourself,” I said to the impetuous Ned, “anger will
do no good.”

“But do you see, Professor,” replied our irascible compan¬
ion, “that we shall absolutely die of hunger in this iron
cage?”

“Bah,” said Conseil, philosophically; “we can hold out
some time yet.”

“My friends,” I said, “we must not despair. We have been
worse off than this. Do me the favour to wait a little before
forming an opinion upon the commander and crew of this
boat.”

“My opinion is formed,” replied Ned Land, sharply.
“They are rascals.”

“Good! and from what country?”

“From the land of rogues 1”

“My brave Ned, that country is not clearly indicated on
the map of the world; but I admit that the nationality of
the two strangers is hard to determine. Neither English,

44

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
French, nor German, that is quite certain. However, I am
inclined to think that the commander and his companion
were born in low latitudes. There is southern blood in them.
But I cannot decide by their appearance whether they are
Spaniards, Turks, Arabians, or Indians. As to their language,
it is quite incomprehensible.”

“There is the disadvantage of not knowing all languages,”
said Conseil, “or the disadvantage of not having one univer¬
sal language.”

As he said these words, the door opened. A steward en¬
tered. He brought us clothes, coats and trousers, made of a
stuff I did not know. I hastened to dress myself, and my
companions followed my example. During that time, the
steward — dumb, perhaps deaf — had arranged the table,
and laid three plates.

“This is something like,” said Conseil.

“Bah,” said the rancorous harpooner, “what do you sup¬
pose they eat here? Tortoise liver, filleted shark, and beef¬
steaks from sea-dogs.”

“We shall see,” said Conseil.

The dishes, of bell metal, were placed on the table, and
we took our places. Undoubtedly we had to do with civi¬
lised people, and had it not been for the electric light which
flooded us, I could have fancied I was in the dining-room of
the Adelphi Hotel at Liverpool, or at the Grant Hotel in
Paris. I must say, however, that there was neither bread
nor wine. The water was fresh and clear, but it was water,
and did not suit Ned Land’s taste. Amongst the dishes
which were brought to us, I recognised several fish delicately
dressed; but of some, although excellent, I could give no
opinion, neither could I tell to what kingdom they belonged,
whether animal or vegetable. As to the dinner service, it was
elegant, and in perfect taste. Each utensil, spoon, fork, knife,
plate, had a letter engraved on it, with a motto above it, a
Latin phrase meaning “Changing with Change”: —

MOBILIS IN MOBILI

N.

The letter N was no doubt the initial of the name of the
enigmatical person, who commanded at the bottom of the
sea.

NED land's tempers 45

Ned and Conseil did not reflect much. They devoured the
food, and I did likewise. I was, besides, reassured as to our
fate; and it seemed evident that our hosts would not let us
die of want.

However, everything has an end, everything passes away,
even the hunger of people who have not eaten for fifteen
hours. Our appetites satisfied, we felt overcome with sleep.

“Faith! I shall sleep well,” said Conseil.

“So shall I,” replied Ned Land.

My two companions stretched themselves on1 the cabin
carpet, and were soon sound asleep. For my own part, too
many thoughts crowded my brain, too many insoluble ques¬
tions pressed upon me, too many fancies kept my eyes half
open. Where were we? What strange power carried us on?
I felt — or rather fancied I felt — the machine sinking down
to the lowest beds of the sea. Dreadful nightmares beset me;
I saw in these mysterious asylums a world of unknown ani¬
mals, amongst which this submarine boat seemed to be of
the same kind, living, moving, and formidable as they. Then
my brain grew calmer, my imagination wandered into vague
unconsciousness, and I soon fell into a deep sleep.

9. Ned Land’s Tempers

How long we slept I do not know; but our sleep must have
lasted long, for it rested us completely from our fatigues.
I woke first. My companions had not moved, and were still
stretched in their corner.

Hardly roused from my somewhat hard couch, I felt my
brain freed, my mind clear. I then began an attentive ex¬
amination of our cell. Nothing was changed inside. The
prison was still a prison, — the prisoners, prisoners. How¬
ever, the steward, during our sleep, had cleared the table. I
breathed with difficulty. The heavy air seemed to oppress
my lungs. Although the cell was large, we had evidently con¬
sumed a great part of the oxygen that it contained. Indeed,
each man consumes, in one hour, the oxygen contained in
more than 176 pints of air, and this air, charged (as then)
with a nearly equal quantity of carbonic acid, becomes un-
breathable.

It became necessary to renew the atmosphere of our

46 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

prison, and no doubt the whole in the submarine boat. That
gave rise to a question in my mind. How would the com¬
mander of this floating dwelling-place proceed? Would he
obtain air by chemical means, in getting by heat the oxygen
contained in chlorate of potash, and in absorbing carbonic
acid by caustic potash? Or, a more convenient, economical,
and consequently more profitable alternative, would he be
satisfied to rise and take breath at the surface of the water,
like a cetacean, and so renew for twenty-four hours the
atmospheric provision?

In fact, I was already obliged to increase my respirations
to eke out of this cell the little oxygen it contained, when
suddenly I was refreshed by a current of pure air, and per¬
fumed with saline emanations. It was an invigorating sea
breeze, charged with iodine. I opened my mouth wide, and
my lungs saturated themselves with fresh particles.

At the same time I felt the boat rolling. The iron-plated
monster had evidently just risen to the surface of the ocean
to breathe, after the fashion of whales. I found out from that
the mode of ventilating the boat.

When I had inhaled this air freely, I sought the conduit-
pipe,. which conveyed to us the beneficial whiff, and I was
not long in finding it. Above the door was a ventilator,
through which volumes of fresh air renewed the impover¬
ished atmosphere of the cell.

I was making my observations, when Ned and Conseil
awoke almost at the same time, under the influence of this
reviving air. They rubbed their eyes, stretched themselves,
and were on their feet in an instant.

“Did master sleep well?” asked Conseil, with his usual
politeness.

“Very well, my brave boy. And you, Mr. Land?”

“Soundly, Professor. But I don’t know if I am right or not;
there seems to be a sea breeze! ”

A seaman could not be mistaken, and I told the Canadian
all that had passed during his sleep.

“Goodl” said he; “that accounts for those roarings we
heard, when the supposed narwhal sighted the Abraham Lin¬
coln”

“Quite so, Master Land; it was taking breath.”

“Only, M. Aronnax, I have no idea what o’clock it is,
unless it is dinner-time.”

NED land’s tempers 47

“Dinner-time! my good fellow? Say rather breakfast¬
time, for we certainly have begun another day.”

“So,” said Conseil, “we have slept twenty-four hours?”

“That is my opinion.”

“I will not contradict you,” replied Ned Land. “But din¬
ner or breakfast, the steward will be welcome, whichever
he brings.”

“Master Land, we must conform to the rules on board,
and I suppose our appetites are in advance of the dinner
hour.”

“That is just like you, friend Conseil,” said Ned, impa¬
tiently. “You are never out of temper, always calm: you
would return thanks before grace, and die of hunger rather
than complain!”

Time was getting on, and we were fearfully hungry; and
this time the steward did not appear. It was rather too long
to leave us, if they really had good intentions towards us.
Ned Land, tormented by the cravings of hunger, got still
more angry; and, notwithstanding his promise, I dreaded an
explosion when he found himself with one of the crew.

For two hours more Ned Land’s temper increased; he
cried, he shouted, but in vain. The walls were deaf. There
was no sound to be heard in the boat: all was still as death.
It did not move, for I should have felt the trembling motion
of the hull under the influence of the screw. Plunged in the
depths of the waters, it belonged no longer to earth: — this
silence was dreadful.

I felt terrified, Conseil was calm, Ned Land roared.

Just then a noise was heard outside. Steps sounded on the
metal flags. The locks were turned, the door opened, and
the steward appeared.

Before I could rush forward to stop him, the Canadian
had thrown him down, and held him by the throat. The
steward was choking under the grip of his powerful hand.

'Conseil was already trying to unclasp the harpooner’s
hand from his half-suffocated victim, and I was going to fly
to the rescue, when suddenly I was nailed to the spot by
hearing these words in French —

“Be quiet, Master Land; and you, Prafesor, will be so
good as to listen to me?”

10. The Man of the Seas

It was the commander of the vessel who thus spoke. At these
words, Ned Land rose suddenly. The steward, nearly stran¬
gled, tottered out on a sign from his master; but such was
the power of the commander on board, that not a gesture
betrayed the resentment which this man must have felt
towards the Canadian. Conseil, interested in spite of himself,
I, stupefied, awaited in silence the result of this scene.

The commander, leaning against a corner of the table
with his arms folded, scanned us with profound attention.
Did he hesitate to speak? Did he regret the words which he
had just spoken in French? One might almost think so.

After some moments of silence, which not one of us
dreamed of breaking, “Gentlemen,” said he, in a calm and
penetrating voice, “I speak French, English, German, and
Latin equally well. I could, therefore, have answered you at
our first interview, but I wished to know you first, then to
reflect. The story told by each one, entirely agreeing in the
main points, convinced me of your identity. I know now
that chance has brought before me M. Pierre Aronnax, Pro¬
fessor of Natural History at the Museum of Paris, entrusted
with a scientific mission abroad, Conseil his servant, and
Ned Land, of Canadian origin, harpooner on board the frig¬
ate Abraham Lincoln of the navy of the United States of
America.”

I bowed assent. It y?as not a question that the commander
put to me. Therefore there was no answer to be made. This
man expressed himself with perfect ease, without any ac¬
cent. His sentences were well turned, his words clear, and
his fluency of speech remarkable. Yet, I did not recognise in
him a fellow-countryman.

He continued the conversation in these terms:

“You have doubtless thought, sir, that I have delayed long
in paying you this second visit. The reason is that, your
identity recognised, I wished to weigh maturely what part
to act towards you. I have hesitated much. Most annoying
circumstances have brought you into the presence of a man
who has broken all the ties of humanity. You have come to
trouble my existence.”

“Unintentionally! ” said I.

48

THE MAN OF THE SEAS

49

“Unintentionally?” replied the stranger, raising his voice
a little; “was it unintentionally that the Abraham Lincoln
pursued me all over the seas? Was it unintentionally that
you took passage in this frigate? Was it unintentionally that
your cannon balk rebounded off the pating of my vessel?
Was it unintentionally that Mr. Ned Land struck me with
his harpoon?”

I detected a restrained irritation in these words. But to
these recriminations I had a very natural answer to make •
and I made it.

“Sir,” said I, “no doubt you are ignorant of the discus¬
sions which have taken place concerning you in America and
Europe. You do not know that divers accidents, caused by
collisions with your submarine machine, have excited public
feeling in the two continents. I omit the hypotheses without
number by which it was sought to explain the inexplicable
phenomenon of which you alone possess the secret. But you
must understand that, in pursuing you over the high seas of
the Pacific, the Abraham Lincoln believed itself to be chasing
some powerful sea-monster of which it was necessary to rid
the ocean at any price.”

A half-smile curled the lips of the commander: then, in a
calmer tone —

“M. Aronnax,” he replied, “dare you affirm that your frig¬
ate would not as soon have pursued and cannonaded a sub¬
marine boat as a monster?”

This question embarrassed me, for certainly Captain Far-
ragut might not have hesitated. He might have thought it
his duty to destroy a contrivance of this kind, as he would a
gigantic narwhal.

“You understand then, sir,” continued the stranger, “that
I have the right to treat you as enemies?”

I answered nothing, purposely. For what good would it be
to discuss such a proposition, when force could destroy the
best arguments?

“I have hesitated for some time,” continued the com¬
mander; “nothing obliged me to show you hospitality. If I
chose to separate myself from you, I should have no interest
in seeing you again; I could place you upon the deck of this
vessel which has served you as a refuge, I could sink beneath
the waters, and forget that you had ever existed. Would not
that be my right?”

SO 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“It might be the right of a savage,” I answered, “but not
that of a civilised man.”

“Professor,” replied the commander quickly, “I am not
what you call a civilised manl I have done with society en¬
tirely, for reasons which I alone have the right of appreciat¬
ing. I do not therefore obey its laws, and I desire you never
to allude to them before me again 1 ”

This was said plainly. A flash of anger and disdain kindled
in the eyes of the Unknown, and I had a glimpse of a terrible
past in the life of this man. Not only had he put himself be¬
yond the pale of human laws, but he had made himself in¬
dependent of them, free in the strictest acceptation of the
word, quite beyond their reach. Who then would dare to
pursue him at the bottom of the sea, when, on its surface,
he defied all attempts made against him? What vessel
could resist the shock of his submarine monitor? What cui¬
rass, however thick, could withstand the blows of his spin?
No man could demand from him an account of his actions;
God, if he believed in one — his conscience, if he had one, —
were the sole judges to whom he was answerable.

These reflections crossed my mind rapidly, whilst the
stranger personage was silent, absorbed, and as if wrapped
up in himself. I regarded him with fear mingled with inter¬
est, as doubtless, CEdipus regarded the Sphinx.

After rather a long silence, the commander resumed the
conversation.

“I have hesitated,” said he, “but I have thought that my
interest might be reconciled with that pity to which every
human being has a right. You will remain on board my ves¬
sel, since fate has cast you there. You will be free; and in
exchange for this liberty, I shall only impose one single con¬
dition. Your word of honour to submit to it will suffice.”

“Speak, sir,” I answered. “I suppose this condition is one
which a man of honour may accept?”

“Yes, sir; it is this. It is possible that certain events, un¬
foreseen, may oblige me to consign you to your cabins for
some hours or some days, as the case may be. As I desire
never to use violence, I expect from you, more than all the
others, a passive obedience. In thus acting, I take all the
responsibility: I acquit you entirely, for I make it an im¬
possibility for you to see what ought not to be seen. Do you
accept this condition?”

THE MAN OF THE SEAS

51

Then things took place on board which, to say the least,
were singular, and which ought not to be seen by people who
were not placed beyond the pale of social laws. Amongst the
surprises which the future was preparing for me; this might
not be the least.

“tVe accept,” I answered; “only I will ask your permis¬
sion, sir, to address one question to you — one only.”

“Speak, sir.”

“You said that we should be free on board.”

“Entirely.”

“I ask you, then, what you mean by this liberty?”

“Just the liberty to go, to come, to see, to observe even
all that passes here, — save under rare circumstances, — the
liberty, in short, which we enjoy ourselves, my companions
and I.”

It was evident that we did not understand one another.

“Pardon me, sir,” I resumed, “but this liberty is only
what every prisoner has of pacing his prison. It cannot suf¬
fice us.”

“It must suffice you, however.”

“What I we must renounce for ever seeing our country,
our friends, our relations again?”

“Yes, sir. But to renounce that unendurable worldly yoke
which men believe to be liberty, is not perhaps so painful as
you think.”

“Well,” exclaimed Ned Land, “never will I give my
word of honour not to try to escape.”

“I did not ask you for your word of honour, Master Land,”
answered the commander, coldly.

“Sir,” I replied, beginning to get angry in spite of my¬
self, “you abuse your situation towards us; it is cruelty.”

“No, sir, it is clemency. You are my prisoners of war. I
keep you, when I could, by a word, plunge you into
the depths of the ocean. You attacked me. You came to sur¬
prise a secret which no man in the world must penetrate, —
the secret of my whole existence. And you think that I am
going to send you back to that world which must know me
no more? Never 1 In retaining you, it is not you whom I
guard — it is myself.”

These words indicated a resolution taken on the part of
the commander, against which no arguments would pre¬
vail.

52 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“So, sir,” I rejoined, “you give us simply’ the choice be¬
tween life and death?”

“Simply.”

“My friends,” said I, “to a question thus put, there is
nothing to answer. But no word of honour binds us to. the
master of this vessel.”

“None, sir,” answered the Unknown.

Then, in a gentler tone, he continued —

“Now, permit me to finish what I have to say to you. I
know you, M. Aronnax. You and your companions will not,
perhaps, have so much to complain of in the chance which
has bound you to my fate. You will find amongst the books
which are my favourite study the work which you have pub¬
lished on ‘the depths of the sea.’ I have often read it. You
have carried your work as far as terrestrial science per¬
mitted you. But you do not know all — you have not seen
all. Let me tell you then, Professor, that you will not regret
the time passed on board my vessel. You are going to visit
the land of marvels.”

These words of the commander had a great effect upon
me. I cannot deny it. My weak point was touched; and I for¬
got, for a moment, that the contemplation of these sublime
subjects was not worth the loss of liberty. Besides, I trusted
to the future to decide this grave question. So I contented
myself with saying —

“By what name ought I to address you?”

“Sir,” replied the commander, “I am nothing to you but
Captain Nemo; and you and your companions are nothing
to me but the passengers of the Nautilus.”

Captain Nemo called. A steward appeared. The captain
gave him his orders in that strange language which I did not
understand. Then, turning towards the Canadian and Con-
seil —

“A repast awaits you in your cabin,” said he. “Be so good
as to follow this man.

“And now, M. Aronnax, our breakfast is ready. Permit
me to lead the way.”

“I am at your service, Captain.”

I followed Captain Nemo; and as soon as I passed through
the door, I found myself in a kind of passage lighted by elec¬
tricity, similar to the waist of a ship. After we had proceeded
a dozen yards, a second door opened before me.

THE MAN OF THE SEAS S3

I then entered a dining-room, decorated and furnished in
severe taste. High oaken sideboards, inlaid -with ebony,
stood at the two extremities of the room, and upon their
shelves glittered china, porcelain, and glass of inestimable
value. The plate on the table sparkled in the rays which
the luminous ceiling shed around, while the light was tem¬
pered and softened by exquisite paintings.

In the center of the room was a table richly laid out. Cap¬
tain Nemo indicated the place I was to occupy.

The breakfast consisted of a certain number of dishes,
the contents of which were furnished by the sea alone; and
I was ignorant of the nature and mode of preparation of
some of them. I acknowledged that they were good, but
they had a peculiar flavour, which I easily became accus¬
tomed to. These different aliments appeared to me to be
rich in phosphorus, and I thought they must have a marine
origin.

Captain Nemo looked at me. I asked him no questions,
• but he guessed my thoughts, and answered of his own ac¬
cord the questions which I was burning to address to him.

“The greater part of these dishes is unknown to you,”
he said to me. “However, you may partake of them without
fear. They are wholesome and nourishing. For a long time I
have renounced the food of the earth, and am never ill now.
My crew, who are healthy, are fed on the same food.”

“So,” said I, “all these eatables are the produce of the
sea?”

“Yes, Professor, the sea supplies all my wants. Sometimes
I cast my nets in tow, and I draw them in ready to break.
Sometimes I hunt in the midst of this element, which ap¬
pears to be inaccessible to man, and quarry the game
which dwells in my submarine forests. My flocks, like those
of Neptune’s old shepherds, graze fearlessly in the im¬
mense prairies of the ocean. I have a vast property there,
which I cultivate myself, and which is always sown by the
hand of the Creator of all things.”

“I can understand perfectly, sir, that your nets furnish
excellent fish for your table; I can understand also that you
hunt aquatic game in your submarine forests; but I can¬
not understand at all how a particle of meat, no matter how
small, can figure in your bill of fare.”

“This, which you believe to be meat, Professor, is noth-

54 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

ing else than fillet of turtle. Here are also some dolphins’
livers, which you take to be ragout of pork. My cook is a
clever fellow, who excels in dressing these various products
of the ocean. Taste all these dishes. Here is a preserve of
holothuria, which a Malay would declare to be unrivalled
in the world; here is a cream, of which the milk has been
furnished by the cetacea, and the sugar by the great fucus of
the North Sea; and lastly, permit me to offer you some pre¬
serve of anemones, which is equal to that of the most deli¬
cious fruits.”

I tasted more from curiosity than as a connoisseur, whilst
Captain Nemo enchanted me with his extraordinary stories.

“You like the sea, Captain?”

“Yes; I love it I The sea is everything. It covers seven-
tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy.
It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he
feels life stirring on all sides. The sea is only the embodiment
of a supernatural and wonderful existence. It is nothing but
love and emotion; it is the ‘Living Infinite,’ as one of your
poets has said. In fact, Professor, Nature manifests herself
in it by her three kingdoms, mineral, vegetable, and ani¬
mal. The sea is the vast reservoir of Nature. The globe be¬
gan with sea, so to speak; and who knows if it will not end
with it? In it is supreme tranquillity. The sea does not be¬
long to despots. Upon its surface men can still exercise un¬
just laws, fight, tear one another to pieces, and be carried
away with terrestrial horrors. But at thirty feet below its
level, their reign ceases, their influence is quenched,' and
their power disappears. Ah! sir, live — live in the bosom of
the waters 1 There only is independence! There I recognise
no masters! There I am freel”

Captain Nemo suddenly became silent in the midst of
this enthusiasm, by which he was quite carried away. For a
few moments he paced up and down, much agitated. Then
he became more calm, regained his accustomed coldness
of expression, and turning towards me —

“Now, Professor,” said he, “if you wish to go over the
Nautilus, I am at your service.”

Captain Nemo rose. I followed him. A double door, con¬
trived at the back of the dining-room, opened, and I entered
a room equal in dimensions to that which I had just quitted.

THE MAN OF THE SEAS

55

It was a library. High pieces of furniture, of black violet
ebony inlaid with brass, supported upon their wide shelves a
great number of books uniformly bound. They followed the
shape of the room, terminating at the lower part in huge di¬
vans, covered with brown leather, which were curved, to
afford the greatest comfort. Light movable desks, made to
slide in and out at will, allowed one to rest one’s book while
reading. In the centre stood an immense table, covered with
pamphlets, amongst which were some newspapers, already
of old date. The electric light flooded everything; it was
shed from four unpolished globes half sunk in the volutes
of the ceiling. I looked with real admiration at this room, so
ingeniously fitted up, and I could scarcely believe my eyes.

“Captain Nemo,” said I to my host, who had just thrown
himself on one of the divans, “this is a library which would
do honour to more than one of the continental palaces, and
I am absolutely astounded when I consider that it can follow
you to the bottom of the seas.”

“Where could one find greater solitude or silence, Profes¬
sor?” replied Captain Nemo. “Did your study in the Museum
afford you such perfect quiet?”

“No, sir; and I must confess that it is a very poor one
after yours. You must have six or seven thousand volumes
here.”

“Twelve thousand, M. Aronnax. These are the only ties
which bind me to the earth. But I had done with the world
on the day when my Nautilus plunged for the first time
beneath the waters. That day I bought my last volumes, my
last pamphlets, my last papers, and from that time I wish to
think that men no longer think or write. These books, Pro¬
fessor, are at your service besides, and you can make use of
them freely.”

I thanked Captain Nemo and went up to the shelves of
the library. Works on science, morals, and literature
abounded in every language; but I did not see one single
work on political economy; that subject appeared to be
strictly proscribed. Strange to say, all these books were ir¬
regularly arranged, in whatever language they were written;
and this medley proved that the Captain of the Nautilus
must have read indiscriminately the books which he took up
by chance.

56 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“Sir,” said I to the Captain, “I thank you for having
placed this library at my disposal. It contains treasures of
science, and I shall profit by them.”

“This room is not only a library,” said Captain Nemo, “it
is also a smoking-room.”

“A smoking-room I” I cried. “Then one may smoke on
board?”

“Certainly.”

“Then, sir, I am forced to believe that you have kept up
a communication with Havana.”

“Not any,” answered the Captain. “Accept this cigar, M.
Aronnax; and though it does not come from Havana, you
will be pleased with it, if you are a connoisseur.”

I took the cigar which was offered me; its shape recalled
the London ones, but it seemed to be made of leaves of gold.
I lighted it at a little brazier, which was supported upon an
elegant bronze stem, and drew the first whiffs with the de¬
light of a lover of smoking who has not smoked for two days.

“It is excellent,” said I, “but it is not tobacco.”

“Nol” answered the Captain, “this tobacco comes neither
from Havana nor from the East. It is a kind of seaweed, rich
in nicotine, with which the sea provides me, but somewhat
sparingly.”

At that moment Captain Nemo opened a door which stood
opposite to that by which I had entered the library, and I
passed into an immense drawing-room splendidly lighted.

It was a vast four-sided room, thirty feet long, eighteen
wide, and fifteen high. A luminous ceiling, decorated with
light arabesques, shed a soft clear light over all the marvels
accumulated in this museum. For it was in fact a museum,
in which an intelligent and prodigal hand had gathered all
the treasures of nature and art, with the artistic confusion
which distinguishes a painter’s studio.

Thirty first-rate pictures, uniformly framed, separated by
bright drapery, ornamented the walk, which were hung with
tapestry of severe design. I saw works of great value, the
greater part of which I had admired in the special collections
of Europe, and in the exhibitions of paintings. The several
schools of the old masters were represented by a Madonna
of Raphael, a Virgin of Leonardo da Vinci, a nymph of Cor-
regio, a woman of Titan, an Adoration of Veronese, an
Assumption of Murillo, a portrait of Holbein, a monk of

THE MAN OF THE SEAS 57

Velasquez, a martyr of Ribera, a fair of Rubens, two Flemish
landscapes of Teniers, three little “genre” pictures of Gerard
Dow, Metsu, and Paul Potter, two specimens of Gericault
and Prudhon, and some sea-pieces of Backhuysen and Ver-
net. Amongst the works of modern painters were pictures
with the signatures of Delacroix, Ingres, Decamps, Troyon,
Meissonier, Daubigny, etc.; and some admirable statues in
marble and bronze, after the finest antique models, stood
upon pedestals in the comers of this magnificent museum.
Amazement, as the Captain of the Nautilus had predicted,
had already begun to take possession of me.

“Professor,” said this strange man, “you must excuse the
unceremonious way in which I receive you, and the disorder
of this room.”

“Sir,” I answered, “without seeking to know who you are,
I recognise in you an artist.”

“An amateur, nothing more, sir. Formerly I loved to col¬
lect these beautiful works created by the hand of man. I
sought them greedily, and ferreted them out indefatigably,
and I have been able to bring together some objects of great
value. These are my last souvenirs of that world which is
dead to me. In my eyes, your modern artists are already old;
they have two or three thousand years of existence; I con¬
found them in my own mind. Masters have no age.”

“And these musicians?” said I, pointing out some works
of Weber, Rossini, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Meyerbeer,
Herald, Wagner, Auber, Gounod, and a number of others,
scattered over a large model piano-organ which occupied
one of the panels of the drawing-room.

“These musicians,” replied Captain Nemo, “are the con¬
temporaries of Orpheus; for in the memory of the dead all
chronological differences are effaced; and I am dead, Pro¬
fessor; as much dead as those of your friends who are sleep¬
ing six feet under the earth! ”

Captain Nemo was silent, and seemed lost in a profound
reverie. I contemplated him with deep interest, analysing in
silence the strange expression of his countenance. Leaning
on his elbow against an angle of a costly mosaic table, he no
longer saw me, — he had forgotten my presence.

I did not disturb this reverie, .and continued my observa¬
tion of the curiosities which enriched this drawing-room.

Under elegant glass cases, fixed by copper rivets, were

58 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

classed and labelled the most precious productions of the
sea which had ever been presented to the eye of a naturalist.
My delight as a professor may be conceived.

The division containing the zoophytes presented the most
curious specimens of the two groups of polypi and echino-
dermes. In the first group, the tubipores, were gorgones ar¬
ranged like a fan, soft sponges of Syria, ises of the Moluccas,
pennatules, an admirable virgularia of the Norwegian seas,
variegated unbellulairse, alcyonariae, a whole series of mad¬
repores, which my master Milne Edwards has so cleverly
classified, amongst which I remarked some wonderful flabel-
linae oculinae of the Island of Bourbon, the “Neptune’s
car” of the Antilles, superb varieties of corals — in short,
every species of those curious polypi of which entire islands
are formed, which will one day become continents. Of the
echinodermes, remarkable for their coating of spines, as-
teri, sea-stars, pantacrinae, comatules, asterophons, echini,
holothuri, etc., represented individually a complete collection
of this group.

A somewhat nervous conchyliologist would certainly
have fainted before other more numerous cases, in which
were classified the specimens of molluscs. It was a collection
of inestimable value, which time fails me to describe
minutely. Amongst these specimens I will quote from
memory only the elegant royal hammer-fish of the Indian
Ocean, whose regular white spots stood out brightly on a
red and brown ground, an imperial spondyle, bright-coloured,
bristling with spines, a rare specimen in the European mu¬
seums — (I estimated its value at not less than £1000);
a common hammer-fish of the seas of New Holland, which
is only procured with difficulty; exotic buccardia of Senegal;
fragile white bivalve shells, which a breath might shatter
like a soap-bubble; several varieties of the aspirgillum of
Java, a kind of calcareous tube, edged with leafy folds, and
much debated by amateurs; a whole series of trochi, some
a greenish-yellow, found in the American seas, others a red¬
dish-brown, natives of Australian waters; others from the
Gulf of Mexico, remarkable for their imbricated shell;
stellari found in the Southern Seas; and last, the rarest of
all, the magnificent spur of New Zealand; and every descrip¬
tion of delicate and fragile shells to which science has given
appropriate names.

THE MAN OF THE SEAS 59

Apart, in separate compartments, were spread out chap¬
lets of pearls of the greatest beauty, which reflected the elec¬
tric light in little sparks of fire; pink pearls, torn from the
pinna-marina of the Red Sea; green pearls of the haliotyde
iris; yellow, blue and black pearls, the curious productions
of the divers molluscs of every ocean, and certain mussels of
the water-courses of the North; lastly, several specimens of
inestimable value which had been gathered from the rarest
pintadines. Some of these pearls were larger than a pigeon’s
egg, and were worth as much, and more than that which the
traveller Tavernier sold to the Shah of Persia for three mil¬
lions, and surpassed the one in the possession of the Imaum
of Muscat, which I had believed to be unrivalled in the
world.

Therefore to estimate the value of this collection was sim¬
ply impossible. Captain Nemo must have expended millions
in the acquirement of these various specimens, and I was
thinking what source he could have drawn from, to have
been able thus to gratify his fancy for collecting, when I was
interrupted by these words —

“You are examining my shells, Professor? Unquestionably
they must be interesting to a naturalist; but for me they
have a far greater charm, for I have collected them all with
my own hand, and there is not a sea on the face of the globe
which has escaped my researches.”

“I can understand, Captain, the delight of wandering
about in the midst of such riches. You are one of those who
have collected their treaures themselves. No museum in
Europe possesses such a collection of the produce of the
ocean. But if I exhaust all my admiration upon it, I shall
have none left for the vessel which carries it. I do not wish
to pry into your secrets; but I must confess that this Nau¬
tilus, with the motive power which is confined in it, the con¬
trivances which enable it to be worked, the powerful agent
which propels it, all excite my curiosity to the highest
pitch. I see suspended on the walls of this room instruments
of whose use I am ignorant.”

“You will find these same instruments in my own room,
Professor, where I shall have much pleasure in explaining
their use to you. But first come and inspect the cabin which
is set apart for your own use. You must see how you will be
accommodated on board the Nautilus .”

60

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

I followed Captain Nemo, who, by one of the doors open¬
ing from each panel of the drawing-room, regained the
waist. He conducted me towards the bow, and there I found,
not a cabin, but an elegant room, with a bed, dressing-table,
and several other pieces of furniture.

I could only thank my host.

“Your room adjoins mine,” said he, opening a door, “and
mine opens into the drawing-room that we have just quit¬
ted.”

I entered the Captain’s room: it had a severe, almost a
monkish, aspect. A small iron bedstead, a table, some articles
for the toilet; the whole lighted by a skylight. No comforts,
the strictest necessaries only.

Captain Nemo pointed to a seat.

“Be so good as to sit down,” he said. I seated myself, and
he began thus:

11. All by Electricity

“Sir,” said Captain Nemo, showing me the instruments
hanging on the walls of his room, “here are the contrivances
required for the navigation of the Nautilus. Here, as in the
drawing-room, I have them always under my eyes, and they
indicate my position and exact direction in the middle of
the ocean. Some are known to you, such as the thermom¬
eter, which gives the internal temperature of the Nautilus ;
the barometer, which indicates the weight of the air and
foretells the changes of the weather; the hygrometer, which
marks the dryness of the atmosphere; the storm-glass, the
contents of winch, by decomposing, announce the approach
of tempests; the compass, which guides my course; the sex¬
tant, which shows the latitude by the altitude of the sun;
chrononjeters, by which I calculate the longitude; and
glasses for day and night, which I use to examine the points
of the horizon, when the Nautilus rises to the surface of the
waves.”

“These are the usual nautical instruments,” I replied, “and
I know the use of them. But these others, no doubt, answer
to the particular requirements of the Nautilus. This dial
with the movable needle is a manometer, is it not?”

“It is actually a manometer. But by communication with
the water, whose external pressure it indicates, it gives our

AIL BY ELECTRICITY 61

depth at the same time.”

“And these other instruments, the use of which I cannot
guess?”

“Here, Professor, I ought to give you some explanations.
Will you be kind enough to listen to me?”

He was silent for a few moments, then he said —

“There is a powerful agent, obedient, rapid, easy, which
conforms to every use, and reigns supreme on board my ves¬
sel. Everything is done by means of it. It lights it, warms it,
and is the soul of my mechanical apparatus. This agent is
electricity.”

“Electricity?” I cried in surprise.

“Yes, sir.”

“Nevertheless, Captain, you possess an extreme rapidity
,of movement, which does not agree with the power of elec¬
tricity. Until now, its dynamic force has remained under re¬
straint, and has only been able to produce a small amount of
power.”

“Professor,” said Captain Nemo, “my electricity is not
everybody’s. You know what sea-water is composed of. In a
thousand grammes are found 96J4 per cent of water, and
about 22/z per cent of chloride of sodium; then, in a smaller
quantity, chlorides of magnesium and of potassium, bromide
of magnesium, sulphate of magnesia, sulphate and carbonate
of lime. You see, then, that chloride of sodium forms a large
part of it. So it is this sodium that I extract from sea-water,
and of which I compose my ingredients. I owe all to the
ocean; it produces electricity, and electricity gives heat,
light, motion, and, in a word, life to the Nautilus .”

“But not die air you breathe?”

“Oh! I could manufacture the air necessary for my con¬
sumption, but it is useless, because I go up to the surface
of the water when I please. However, if electricity does not
furnish me with air to breathe, it works at least the powerful
pumps that are stored in spacious reservoirs, and which en¬
able me to prolong at need, and as long as I will, my stay in
the depths of the sea. It gives a uniform and unintermit-
tent light, which the sun does not. Now look at this clock; it
is electrical, and goes with a regularity that defies the best
chronometers. I have divided it into twenty-four hours, like
the Italian clocks, because for me there is neither night
nor day, sun nor moon, but only that factitious light that I

62

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
take with me to the bottom of the sea. Look! Just now, it is
ten o’clock in the morning.”

“Exactly.”

“Another application of electricity. This dial hanging in
front of us indicates the speed of the Nautilus. An electric
thread puts it in communication with the screw, and the
needle indicates the real speed. Lookl now we are spinning
along with a uniform speed of fifteen miles an hour.”

“It is marvellous! and I see, Captain, you were right to
make use of this agent that takes the place of wind, water,
and steam.”

“We have not finished, M. Aronnax,” said Captain Nemo,
rising; “if you will follow me, we will examine the stern of
the Nautilus .”

Really, I knew already the anterior part of this submarine
boat, of which this is the exact division, starting from the
ship’s head: — the dining-room, five yards long, separated
from the library by a water-tight partition; the library, five
yards long; the large drawing-room, ten yards long, sep¬
arated from the Captain’s room by a second water-tight
partition; the said room, five yards in lengh; mine, two and
a half yards; and lastly, a reservoir of air, seven and a half
yards, that extended to the bows. Total length thirty-five
yards, or one hundred and five feet. The partitions had doors
that were shut hermetically by means of india-rubber instru¬
ments, and they ensured the safety of the Nautilus in case
of a leak.

I followed Captain Nemo through the waist, and arrived
at the centre of the boat. There was a sort of well that
opened between two partitions. An iron ladder, fastened
with an iron hook to the partition, led to the upper end. I
asked the Captain what the ladder was used for.

“It leads to the small boat,” he said.

“What! have you a boat?” I exclaimed, in surprise.

“Of course; an excellent vessel, light and insubmersible,
that serves either as a fishing or as a pleasure boat.”

“But then, when you wish to embark, you are obliged to
come to the surface of the water?”

“Not at all. This boat is attached to the upper part of the
hull of the Nautilus, and occupies a cavity made for it. It is
decked, quite water-tight, and held together by solid bolts.
This ladder leads to a man-hole made in the hull of the Nau-

ALL BY ELECTRICITY 63

tilus, that corresponds with a similar hole made in the side
of the boat. By this double opening I get into the small ves¬
sel. They shut the one belonging to the Nautilus, I shut the
other by means of screw pressure. I undo the bolts, and the
little boat goes up to the surface of the sea with prodigious
rapidity. I then open the panel of the bridge, carefully shut
till then; I mast it, hoist my sail, take my oars, and I’m
off.”

“But how do you get back on board?”

“I do not come back, M. Aronnax; the Nautilus comes to
me.”

“By your orders?”

“By my orders. An electric thread connects us. I tele¬
graph to it, and that is enough.”

“Really,” I said, astonished at these marvels, “nothing
can be more simple.”

After having passed by the cage of the staircase that led
to the platform, I saw a cabin six feet long, in which Conseil
and Ned Land, enchanted with their repast, were devouring
it with avidity. Then a door opened into a kitchen nine feet
long, situated between the large storerooms. There electric¬
ity, better than gas itself, did all the cooking. The streams
under the furnaces gave out to the sponges of platina a heat
which was regularly kept up and distributed. They also
heated a distilling apparatus, which, by evaporation, fur¬
nished excellent drinkable water. Near this kitchen was a
bathroom comfortably furnished, with hot and cold water
taps.

Next to the kitchen was the berthroom of the vessel, six¬
teen feet long. But the door was shut, and I could not see the
management of it, which might have given me an idea of the
number of men employed on board the Nautilus.

At the bottom was a fourth partition that separated this
office from the engine-room. A door opened, and I found
myself in the compartment where Captain Nemo — certainly
an engineer of a very high order — had arranged his locomo¬
tive machinery. This engine-room, clearly lighted, did not
measure less than sixty-five feet in length. It was divided
into two parts; the first contained the materials for produc¬
ing electricity, and the second the machinery that connected
it with the screw. I examined it with great interest, in order
to understand the machinery of the Nautilus.

64 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“You see,” said the Captain, “I use Bunsen’s contrivances,
not Ruhmkorff’s. Those would not have been powerful
enough. Bunsen’s are fewer in number, but strong and large,
which experience proves to be the best. The electricity pro¬
duced passes forward, where it works, by electro-magnets
of great size, on a system of levers and cog-wheels that trans¬
mit the movement to the axle of the screw. This one, the
diameter of which is nineteen feet, and the thread twenty-
three feet, performs about a hundred and twenty revolu¬
tions in a second.”

“And you get then?”

“A speed of fifty miles an hour.”

“I have seen the Nautilus manoeuvre before the Abraham
Lincoln, and I have my own ideas as to its speed. But this is
not enough. We must see where' we go. We must be able to
direct it to the right, to the left, above, below. How do you
get to the great depths, where you find an increasing resist¬
ance, which is rated by hundreds of atmospheres? How do
you return to the surface of the ocean? And how do you
maintain yourselves in the requisite medium? Am I asking
too much?”

“Not at all, Professor,” replied the Captain, with some
hesitation; “since you may never leave, this submarine
boat. Come into the saloon, it is our usual study, and there
you will learn all you want to know about the Nautilus

12. Some Figures

A moment after, we were seated on a divan in the saloon
smoking. The Captain showed me a sketch that gave the
plan, section, and elevation of the Nautilus. Then he began
his description in these words: —

“Here, M. Aronnax, are the several dimensions of the
boat you are in. It is an elongated cylinder with conical
ends. It is very like a cigar in shape, a shape already adopted
in London in several constructions of the same sort. The
length of this cylinder, from stem to stern, is exactly 232
feet, and its maximum breadth is twenty-six feet. It is
not built quite like your long-voyage steamers, but its lines
are sufficiently long, and its curves prolonged enough, to al¬
low the water to slide off easily, and oppose no obstacle to
its passage. These two dimensions enable you to obtain by

SOME FIGURES 65

a simple calculation the, surface and cubic contents of the
Nautilus. Its area measures 6032 feet; and its contents
about 1500 cubic yards — that is to say, when completely
immersed it displaces 50,000 feet of water, or weighs 1500
tons.

“When I made the plans for this submarine vessel, I meant
that nine- tenths should be submerged: consequently, it
ought only to displace nine-tenths of its bulk — that is to
say, only to weigh that number of tons. I ought not, there¬
fore, to have exceeded that weight, constructing it on the
aforesaid dimensions.

“The Nautilus is composed of two hulls, one inside, the
other outside, joined by T-shaped irons, which render it
very strong, indeed, owing to this cellular arrangement it
resists like a block, as if it were solid. Its sides cannot yield;
it coheres spontaneously, and not by the closeness of its riv¬
ets; and the homogeneity of its construction, due to the
perfect union of the materials, enables it to defy the rough¬
est seas.

“These two hulls are composed of steel plates, whose den¬
sity is from .7 to .8 that of water. The first is not less than
two inches and a half thick, and weighs 394 tons. The sec¬
ond envelope, the keel, twenty inches high and ten thick,
weighs alone sixty-two tons. The engine, the ballast, the
several accessories and apparatus appendages, the parti¬
tions and bulkheads, weigh 961.62 tons. Do you follow all
this?”

“I do ”

“Then, when the Nautilus is afloat under these circum¬
stances, one-tenth is out of the water. Now, if I have made
reservoirs of a size equal to this tenth, or capable of holding
150 tons, and if I fill them with water, the boat, weighing
then 1507 tons, will be completely immersed. That would
happen, Professor. These reservoirs are in the lower parts of
the Nautilus. I turn on taps and they fill, and the vessel
sinks that had just been level with the surface.”

“Well, Captain, but now we come to the real difficulty. I
can understand your rising to the surface; but diving be¬
low the surface, does not your submarine contrivance en¬
counter a pressure, and consequently undergo an upward
thrust of one atmosphere for every thirty feet of water, just
about fifteen pounds per square inch?”

66 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“Just so, sir.”

“Then, unless you quite fill the Nautilus, I do not see how
you can draw it down to those depths.”

“Professor, you must not confound statistics with dynam¬
ics, or you will be exposed to grave errors. There is very little
labour spent in attaining the lower regions of the ocean, for
all bodies have a tendency to sink. When I wanted to find
out the necessary increase of weight to sink the Nautilus,
I had only to calculate the reduction of volume that sea¬
water acquires according to the depth.”

“That is evident.”

“Now, if water is not absolutely incompressible, it is at
least capable of very slight compression. Indeed, after the
most recent calculations this reduction is only .000436
of an atmosphere for each thirty feet of depth. If we want to
sink 3000 feet, I should keep account of the reduction of
bulk under a pressure equal to that of a column of water of
a thousand feet. The calculation is easily verified. Now, I
have supplementary reservoirs capable of holding a hundred
tons. Therefore I can sink to a considerable depth. When I
wish to rise to the level of the sea, I only let off the water,
and empty all the reservoirs if I want the Nautilus to emerge
from the tenth part of her total capacity.”

I had nothing to object to these reasonings.

“I admit your calculations, Captain,” I replied ; “I should
be wrong to dispute them since daily experience confirms
them; but I foresee a real difficulty in the way.”

“What, sir?”

“When you are about 1000 feet deep, the walls of the
Nautilus bear a pressure of 100 atmospheres. If, then, just
now you were to empty the supplementary reservoirs, to
lighten the vessel, and to go up to the surface, the pumps
must overcome the pressure of 100 atmospheres, which is
1500 pounds per square inch. From that a power - ”

“That electricity alone can give,” said the Captain,
hastily. “I repeat, sir, that the dynamic power of my en¬
gines is almost infinite. The pumps of the Nautilus have an
enormous power, as you must have observed when their jets
of water burst like a torrent upon the Abraham Lincoln. Be¬
sides I use subsidiary reservoirs only to attain a mean depth
of 750 to 1000 fathoms, and that with a view of managing
my machines. Also, when I have a mind to visit the depths

SOME FIGURES 67

of the ocean five or six miles below the surface, I make use
of slower but not less infallible means.”

“What are they, Captain?”

“That involves my telling you -how the Nautilus is
worked.”

“I am impatient to learn.”

“To steer this boat to starboard or port, to turn — in a
word, following a horizontal plane, T use an ordinary rudder
fixed on the back of the stern-post, and with one wheel and
some tackle to steer by. But I can also make the Nautilus
rise and sink, and sink and rise, by a vertical movement by
means of two inclined planes fastened to its sides, opposite
the centre of flotation, planes that move in every direction,
and that are worked by powerful levers from the interior.
If the planes are kept parallel with the boat, it moves hori¬
zontally. If slanted, the Nautilus, according to this inclina¬
tion, and under the influence of the screw, either sinks diag¬
onally or rises diagonally as it suits me. And even if I wish
to rise more quickly to the surface, I ship the screw, and
the pressure of tfie water causes the Nautilus to rise verti¬
cally like a balloon filled with hydrogen.”

“Bravo, CaptainI But how can the steersman follow the
route in the middle of the waters?”

“The steersman is placed in a glazed box, that is raised
above the hull of the Nautilus, and furnished with lenses.”

“Are these lenses capable of resisting such pressure?”

“Perfectly. Glass, which breaks at a blow, is, neverthe¬
less, capable of offering considerable resistance. During
some experiments of fishing by electric light in 1864 in the
Northern Seas, we saw plates less than a third .of an inch
thick resist a pressure of sixteen atmospheres. Now, the
glass that I use is not less than thirty times thicker.”

“Granted. But, after all, in order to see, the light must ex¬
ceed the darkness, and in the midst of the darkness in the
water, how can you see?”

“Behind the steersman’s cage is placed a powerful electric
reflector, the rays from which light up the sea for half a mile
in front.”

“Ah I bravo, bravo, CaptainI Now I can account for this
phosphorescence in the supposed narwhal that puzzled
us so. I now ask you if the boarding of the Nautilus and of
the Scotia, that has made such a noise, has been the result

68 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

of a chance encounter?”

“Quite accidental, sir. I was sailing only one fathom be¬
low the surface of the water, when the shock came. It had
no bad result.”

“None, sir. But now, about your encounter with the Abra¬
ham Lincoln ?”

“Professor, I am sorry for one of the best vessels in the
American navy; but they attacked me, and I was bound to
defend myself. I contented myself, however, with disabling
the frigate; she will not have any difficulty in getting re¬
paired at the next port.”

“Ah, Commander 1 your Nautilus is certainly a marvellous
boat.”

“Yes, Professor; and I love it as if it were part of myself.
If danger threatens one of your vessels on the ocean, the first
impression is the feeling of an abyss above and below. On
the Nautilus men’s hearts never fail them. No defects to be
afraid of, for the double shell is as firm as iron; no riggihg
to attend to; no sails for the wind to carry away; no boilers
to burst; no fire to fear, for the vessel is made of iron, not
of wood; no coal to run short, for electricity is the only me¬
chanical agent; no collision to fear, for it alone swims in
deep water; no tempest to brave, for when it dives below
the water, it reaches absolute tranquillity. There, sir! that
is the perfection of vessels! And if it is true that the engineer
has more confidence in the vessel than the builder, and the
builder than the captain himself, you understand the trust
I repose in my Nautilus-, for I am at once captain, builder,
and engineer.”

“But how could you construct this wonderful Nautilus in
secret?”

“Each separate portion, M. Aronnax, was brought from '
different parts of the globe. The keel, was forged at Creusot,
the shaft of the screw at Penn & Co.’s, London, the iron
plates of the hull at Laird’s of Liverpool, the screw itself at
Scott’s at Glasgow. The reservoirs were made by Cail & Co.
at Paris, the engine by Krupp in Prussia, its beak in
Motala’s workshop in Sweden, its mathematical instruments
by Hart Brothers, of New York, etc.; and each of these
people had my orders under different names.”

“But these parts had to be put together and arranged?”

“Professor, I had set up my workshops upon a desert is-

THE BLACK RIVER

69

land in the ocean. There my workmen, that is to say, the
brave men that I instructed and educated, and myself have
put together our Nautilus. Then when the work was fin¬
ished, fire destroyed all trace of our proceedings on this is¬
land, that I could have jumped over if I had liked.”

“Then the cost of this vessel is great?”

“M. Aronnax, an iron vessel costs £45 per ton. Now the
Nautilus weighed 1500. It came therefore to £67,500, and
£80,000 more for fitting it up, and about £200,000 with the
works of art and the collections it contains.”

“One last question, Captain Nemo.”

“Ask it, Professor.”

“You are rich?”

“Immensely rich, sir; and I could, without missing it, pay
the national debt of France.”

I stared at the singular person who spoke thus. Was he
playing upon my credulity? The future would decide that.

13. The Black River

The portion of the terrestrial globe which is covered by
water is estimated at upwards of eighty millions of acres.
This fluid mass comprises two billions two hundred and fifty
millions of cubic miles, forming a spherical body of a diam¬
eter of sixty leagues, the weight of which would be three
quintillions of tons. To comprehend the meaning of these
figures, it is necessary to observe that a quintillion is to a
billion as a billion is to unity; in other words, there are as
many billions in a quintillion as there are units in a billion.
This mass of fluid is equal to about the quantity of water
which would be discharged by all the rivers of the earth in
forty thousand years.

During the geological epochs, the igneous period suc¬
ceeded to the aqueous. The ocean originally prevailed
everywhere. Then by degrees, in the Silurian period, the
tops of the mountains began to appear, the islands emerged,
then disappeared in partial deluges, reappeared, became
settled, formed continents, till at length the earth became
geographically arranged, as we see in the present day. The
solid had wrested from the liquid thirty-seven million six
hundred and fifty-seven square miles, equal to twelve bil¬
lion nine hundred and sixty millions of acres.

70

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

The shape of continents allows us to divide the waters
into five great portions: the Arctic or Frozen Ocean, the
Antarctic or Frozen Ocean, the Indian, the Atlantic, and
the Pacific oceans.

The Pacific Ocean extends from north to south between
the two polar circles, and from east to west between Asia
and America, over an extent of 145 degrees of longitude. It
is the quietest of seas; its currents are broad and slow, it
has medium tides, and abundant rain. Such was the ocean
that my fate destined me first to travel over under these
strange conditions.

“Sir,” said Captain Nemo, “we will, if you please, take
our bearings and fix the starting-point of this voyage. It is
a quarter to twelve, I will go up again to the surface.”

The Captain pressed an electric clock three times. The
pumps began to drive the water from the tanks; the needle
of the manometer marked by a different pressure the ascent
of the Nautilus, then it stopped.

“We have arrived,” said die Captain.

I went to the central staircase which opened on to the
platform, clambered up the iron steps, and found myself
on the upper part of the Nautilus.

The platform was only three feet out of water. The front
and back of the Nautilus was of that spindle-shape which
caused it justly to be compared to a cigar. I noticed that its
iron plates, slightly overlaying each other, resembled the
shell which clothes the bodies of our large terrestrial reptiles.
It explained to me how natural it was, in spite of all glasses,
that this boat should have been taken for a marine animal.

Towards the middle of the platform the long-boat, half
buried in the hull of the vessel, formed a slight excrescence.
Fore and aft rose two cages of medium height with inclined
sides, and partly closed by thick convex glasses; one des¬
tined for the steersman who directed the Nautilus, the other
containing a brilliant lantern to give light on the road.

The sea was beautiful, the sky pure. Scarcely could the
long vehicle feel the broad undulations of the ocean.' A light
breeze from the east rippled the surface of the waters. The
horizon, free from fog, made observation easy. Nothing was
in sight. Not a quicksand, not an island. A vast desert.

Captain Nemo, by the help of his sextant, took the altitude
of the sun, which ought also to give the latitude. He waited

THE BLACK RIVER

71

for some moments till its disc touched the horizon. Whilst
taking observations not a muscle moved, the instrument
could not have been more motionless in a hand of marble.

“Twelve o’clock, sir,” said he. “When you like - ”

I cast a look upon the sea, slightly yellowed by the Jap¬
anese coast, and descended to the saloon.

“And now, sir, I leave you to your studies,” added the
Captain; “our course is N.N.E., our depth is twenty-six
fathoms. Here are maps on a large scale by which you may
follow it. The saloon is at your disposal, and with your per¬
mission I will retire.” Captain Nemo bowed, and I re¬
mained alone, lost in thoughts all bearing on the commander
of the Nautilus.

For a whole hour was I deep in these reflections, seeking
to pierce this mystery so interesting to me. Then my eyes
fell upon the vast planisphere spread upon the table, and I
placed my finger on the very spot where the given latitude
and longitude crossed.

The sea has its large rivers like the continents. They are
special currents known by their temperature and their
colour. The most remarkable of these is known by the name
of the Gulf Stream. Science has decided on the globe the
direction of five principal currents: one in the North Atlan¬
tic, a second in the South, a third in the North Pacific, a
fourth in the South, and a fifth in the Southern Indian
Ocean. It is even probable that a sixth current existed at one
time or another in the Northern Indian Ocean, when the
Caspian and Aral seas formed but one vast sheet of water.

At this point indicated on the planisphere one of these
currents was rolling, the Kuro-Sivo of the Japanese, the
Black River which, leaving the Gulf of Bengal where it is
warmed by the perpendicular rays of a tropical sun, crosses
the Straits of Malacca along the coast of Asia, turns into
the North Pacific to the Aleutian Islands, carrying with it
trunks of camphor-trees and other indigenous productions,
and edging the waves of the ocean with the pure indigo of
its warm water. It was this current that the Nautilus was
to follow. I followed it with my eye; saw it lose itself in
the vastness of the Pacific, and felt myself drawn with it,
when Ned Land and Conseil appeared at the door of the
saloon.

My two brave companions remained petrified at the sight

72 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

of the wonders spread before them.

“Where are we, where are we?” exclaimed the Canadian.
“In the museum at Quebec?”

“My friends,” I answered, making a sign for them to en¬
ter, “you are not in Canada, but on board the Nautilus fifty
yards below the level of the sea.”

“But, M. Aronnax,” said Ned Land, “can you tell me
how many men there are on board? Ten, twenty, fifty, a
hundred?”

“I cannot answer you, Mr. Land; it is better to abandon
for a time all idea of seizing the Nautilus or escaping from it.
This ship is a masterpiece of modern industry, and I should
be sorry not to have seen it. Many people would accept the
situation forced upon us, if only to move amongst such won¬
ders. So be quiet and let us try and see what passes around
us.”

“Seel” exclaimed the harpooner, “but we can see nothing
in this iron prison! We are walking — we are sailing —
blindly.”

Ned Land had scarcely pronounced these words when all
was suddenly darkness. The luminous ceiling was gone, and
so rapidly that my eyes received a painful impression.

We remained mute, not stirring, and not knowing what
surprise awaited us, whether agreeable or disagreeable. A
sliding noise was heard: one would have said that panels
were working at the sides of the Nautilus.

“It is the end of the endl ” said Ned Land.

Suddenly light broke at each side of the saloon, through
two oblong openings. The liquid mass appeared vividly lit
up by the electric gleam. Two crystal plates separated us
from the sea. At first I trembled at the thought that this
frail partition might break, but strong bands of copper
bound them, giving an almost infinite power of resistance.

The sea was distinctly visible for a mile all round the
Nautilus. What a spectaclel What pen can describe it? Who
could paint the effects of the light through those transparent
sheets of water, and the softness of the successive gradua¬
tions from the lower to the superior strata of the ocean?

We know the transparency of the sea, and that its clear¬
ness is far beyond that of rock water. The mineral and
organic substances which it holds in suspension heightens
its transparency. In certain parts of the ocean at the An-

THE BLACK RIVER 73

tilles, under seventy-five fathoms of water, can be seen with
surprising clearness a bed of sand. The penetrating power
of the solar rays does not seem to cease for a depth of one
hundred and fifty fathoms. But in this middle fluid travelled
over by the Nautilus, the electric brightness was produced
even in the bosom of the waves. It was no longer luminous
water, but liquid light.

On each side a window opened into this unexplored
abyss. The obscurity of the saloon showed to advantage the
brightness outside, and we looked out as if this pure crystal
had been the glass of an immense aquarium.

“You wished to see, friend Ned; well, you see now.”

“Curious 1 curious!” muttered the Canadian, who, forget¬
ting his ill-temper, seemed to submit to some irresistible at¬
traction; “and one would come farther than this to admire
such a sight! ”

“Ah! ” thought I to myself, “I understand the life of this
man; he has made a world apart for himself, in which he
treasures all his greatest wonders.”

For two whole hours an aquatic army escorted the Nau¬
tilus. During their games, their bounds, while rivalling each
other in beauty, brightness, and velocity, I distinguished the
green labre; the banded mullet, marked by a double line of
black; the roundtailed goby, of a white colour, with violet
spots on the back; the Japanese scombrus, a beautiful mack¬
erel of those seas, with a blue body and silvery head; the
brilliant azurors, whose name alone defies description; some
banded spares, with variegated fins of blue and yellow;
some aclostones, the woodcocks of the seas, some specimens
of which attain a yard in length; Japanese salamanders, spi¬
der lampreys, serpents six feet long, with eyes small and
lively, and a huge mouth bristling with teeth; with many
other species.

Our imagination was kept at its height, interjections fol¬
lowed quickly on each other. Ned named the fish, and Con-
seil classed them. I was in ecstasies with the vivacfty of
their movements and the beauty of their forms. Never had
it been given to me to surprise these animals, alive and at
liberty, in their natural element. I will not mention all the
varieties which passed before my dazzled eyes, all the
collection of the seas of China and Japan. These fish, more
numerous than the birds of the air, came, attracted, no

74 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

doubt, by the brilliant focus of the electric light.

Suddenly there was daylight in the saloon, the iron panels
closed again, and the enchanting vision disappeared. But
for a long time I dreamt on till my eyes fell on the instru¬
ments hanging on the partition. The compass still showed
the course to be N.N.E., the manometer indicated a pressure
of five atmospheres, equivalent to a depth of twenty-five
fathoms, and the electric log gave a speed of fifteen miles
an hour. I expected Captain Nemo, but he did not appear.
The clock marked the hour of five.

Ned Land and Conseil returned to their cabin, and I re¬
tired to my chamber. My dinner was ready. It was com¬
posed of turtle soup made of the most delicate hawk-bills,
of a surmullet served with puff paste (the liver of which,
prepared by itself, was most delicious), and fillets of the
emperor-holocanthus, the savour of which seemed to me
superior even to salmon.

I passed the evening reading, writing, and thinking. Then
sleep overpowered me, and I stretched .myself on my couch
of zostera, and slept profoundly, whilst the Nautilus was
gliding rapidly through the current of the Black River.

14. A Note of Invitation

The next day was the 9th of November. I awoke after a
long sleep of twelve hours. Conseil came, according to cus¬
tom, to know “how I had passed the night,” and to offer his
services. He had left his friend the Canadian sleeping like a
man who had never done anything else all his life. I let the
worthy fellow chatter as he pleased, without caring to an¬
swer him. I was pre-occupied by the absence of the Captain
during our sitting of the day before, and hoping to see him
today.

As soon as I was dressed I went into the saloon. It was de¬
serted.

I plunged into the study of the conchological treasures
hidden behind the glasses. I revelled also in great herbals
filled with the rarest marine plants, which, although dried'
up, retained their lovely colours. Amongst these precious
hydrophytes I remarked some vorticelke, pavonariae, deli¬
cate ceramics with scarlet tints, some fan-shaped agari, and
some natabuli like flat mushrooms, which at one time used

A NOTE OF INVITATION 75

to be classed as zoophytes; in short, a perfect series of al¬
gae-

The whole day passed without my being honoured by a
visit from Captain Nemo. The panels of the saloon did not
open. Perhaps they did not wish us to tire of these beautiful
tilings.

The course of the Nautilus was E.N.E., her speed twelve
knots, the depth below the surface between twenty-five and
thirty fathoms.

The next day, 10th of November, the same desertion, the
same solitude. I did not see one of the ship’s crew: Ned and
Conseil spent the greater part of the day with, me. They were
astonished at the inexplicable absence of the Captain. Was
this singular man ill? — had he altered his intentions with re¬
gard to us?

After all, as Conseil said, we enjoyed perfect liberty, we
were delicately and abundantly fed. Our host kept to his
terms of the treaty. We could not complain, and, indeed, the
singularity of our fate reserved such wonderful compensa¬
tion for us, that we had no right to accuse it as yet.

That day I commenced the journal of these adventures
which has enabled me to relate them with more scrupulous
exactitude and minute detail. I wrote it on paper made from
the zostera marina.

Early in the morning of November 11th the fresh air
spreading over the interior of the Nautilus told me that we
had come to the surface of the ocean to renew our supply
of oxygen. I directed my steps to the central staircase, and
mounted the platform.

It was six o’clock, the weather was cloudy, the sea grey
but calm. Scarcely a billow. Captain Nemo, whom I hoped
to meet, would he be there? I saw no one but the steers¬
man imprisoned- in his glass cage. Seated upon the projec¬
tion formed by the hull of the pinnace, I inhaled the salt
breeze with delight.

By degrees the fog disappeared under the action of the
sun’s rays, the radiant orb rose from behind the eastern
horizon. The sea flamed under its glance like a train of gun¬
powder. The clouds scattered in the heights were coloured
with lively tints of beautiful shades, and numerous “mare’s
tails,” which betokened wind for that day. But what was
wind to this Nautilus which tempests could not frighten I

76 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

I was admiring this joyous rising of the sun, so gay, and
so lifegiving, when I heard steps approaching the platform.
I was prepared to salute Captain Nemo, but it was his sec¬
ond (whom I had already seen on the Captain’s first visit)
who appeared. He advanced on the platform not seeming
to see me. With his powerful glass to his eye he scanned
every point of the horizon with great attention. This ex¬
amination over, he approached the panel and pronounced
a sentence in exactly these terms. I have remembered it,
for every morning it was repeated under exactly the same
conditions. It was thus worded —

“Nautron respoc lomi virch.”

What it meant I could not say.

These words pronounced, the second descended. I
thought that the Nautilus was about to return to its sub¬
marine navigation. I regained the panel and returned to
my chamber.

Five days sped thus, without any change in our situa¬
tion. Every morning I mounted the platform. The same
phrase was pronounced by the same individual. But Cap¬
tain Nemo did not appear.

I had made up my mind that I should never see him
again, when, on the 16th November, on returning to my
room with Ned and Conseil, I found upon my table a note
addressed to me. I opened it impatiently. It was written in
a bold, clear hand, the characters rather pointed, recalling
the German type. The note was worded as follows: —

“16th of November, 1867.

“To Professor Aronnax, on board the Nautilus.
“Captain Nemo invites Professor Aronnax to a hunting
party, which will take place tomorrow morning in the
forests of the Island of Crespo. He hopes that nothing
will prevent the Professor from being present, and he
will with pleasure see him joined by his companions.

“Captain Nemo
“Commander of the Nautilus'*

“A hunt!” exclaimed Ned.

“And in the forests of the Island of Crespo!” added Con¬
seil.

A NOTE OF INVITATION 77

“Oh! then the gentleman is going on terra firma?” re¬
plied Ned Land.

“That seems to me to be clearly indicated,” said I, read¬
ing the letter once more.

“Well, we must accept,” said the Canadian. “But once
more on dry ground, we shall know what to do. Indeed, I
shall not be sorry to eat a piece of fresh venison.”

Without seeking to reconcile what was contradictory be¬
tween Captain Nemo’s manifest aversion to islands and
continents, and his invitation to hunt in a forest, I con¬
tented myself with replying —

“Let us first see where the Island of Crespo is.”

I consulted the planisphere, and in 32° 40' north lat.,
and 157° SO' west long., I found a small island, recognised
in 1801 by Captain Crespo, and marked in the ancient
Spanish maps as Rocca de la Plata, the meaning of which
is “The Silver Rock.” We were then about eighteen hun¬
dred miles from our starting-point, and the course of the
Nautilus, a little changed, was bringing it back towards
the south-east.

I showed this little rock lost in the midst of the North
Pacific to my companions.

“If Captain Nemo does sometimes go on dry ground,”
said I, “he at least chooses desert islands.”

Ned Land shrugged his shoulders without speaking, and
Conseil and he left me.

After supper, which was served by the steward mute and
impassive, I went to bed, not without some anxiety.

The next morning, the 17th of November, on awakening
I felt that the Nautilus was perfectly still. I dressed quickly
and entered the saloon.

Captain Nemo was there, waiting for me. He rose, bowed,
and asked me if it was convenient for me to accompany
him. As he made no allusion to his absence during the last
eight days* 'I did not mention it, and simply answered that
my companions and myself were ready to follow him.

We entered the dining-room, where breakfast was served.

“M. Aronnax,” said the Captain, “pray share my break¬
fast without ceremony; we will chat as we eat. For though
I promised you a walk in the forest, I did not undertake to
find hotels there. So breakfast as a man who will most likely
not have his dinner till very late.”

78

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

I did honour to the repast. It was composed of several
kinds of fish, and slices of holothuridae (excellent zoo¬
phytes), and different sorts of sea-weed. Our drink con¬
sisted" of pure water, to which the Captain added some
drops of a fermented liquor, extracted by the Kamschatcha
method from a sea-weed known under the name of Rhodo-
menia palmata. Captain Nemo ate at first without saying
a word. Then he began —

“Sir, when I proposed to you to hunt in my submarine
forest of Crespo, you evidently thought me mad. Sir, you
should never judge lightly of any man.”

“But, Captain, believe me — ”

“Be kind enough to listen, and you will then see whether
you have any cause to accuse me of folly and contradic¬
tion.”

“I listen.”

“You know as well as I do, Professor, that man can live
under water, providing he carries with him a sufficient sup¬
ply of breathable air. In submarine works, the workman,
clad in an impervious dress, with his head in a metal hel¬
met, receives air from above by means of forcing pumps
and regulators.”

“That is a diving apparatus,” said I.

“Just so, but under these conditions the man is not at
liberty; he is attached to the pump which sends him air
through an india-rubber tube, and if we were obliged to
be thus held to the Nautilus, we could not go far.”

“And the means of getting free?” I asked.

“It is to use the Rouquayrol apparatus, invented by two
of your own countrymen, which I have brought to perfec¬
tion for my own use, and which will allow you to risk your¬
self under these new physiological conditions, without any
organ whatever suffering. It consists of a reservoir of thick
iron plates, in which I store the air under a pressure of
fifty atmospheres. This reservoir is fixed on the back by
means of braces, like a soldier’s knapsack. Its upper part
forms a box in which the air is kept by means of a bellows,
and therefore cannot escape unless at its normal tension.
In the Rouquayrol apparatus such as we use, two india-
rubber pipes leave this box and join a sort of tent which
holds the nose and mouth; one is to introduce fresh air,
the other to let out the foul, and the tongue closes one or

A NOTE OF INVITATION .79

the other according to the wants of the respirator. But I,
in encountering great pressures at the bottom of the sea,
was obliged to shut my head, like that of a diver, in a ball
of copper; and it is to this ball of copper that the two pipes,
the inspirator and the expirator, open.”

“Perfectly, Captain Nemo; but the air that you carry
with you must soon be used; when it only contains fifteen
per cent of oxygen, it is no longer fit to breathe.”

“Right! but I told you, M. Aronnax, that the pumps of
the Nautilus allow me to store the air under considerable
pressure, and on these conditions, the reservoir of the appa¬
ratus can furnish breathable air for nine or ten hours.”

“I have no further objections to make,” I answered; “I
will only ask you one thing, Captain — how can you light
your road at the bottom of the sea?”

“With the Ruhmkorff apparatus, M. Aronnax; one is
carried on the back, the other is fastened to the waist. It is
composed of a Bunsen pile, which I do not work with bi¬
chromate of potash, but with sodium. A wire is introduced
which collects the electricity produced, and directs it to¬
wards a particularly made lantern. In this lantern is a spiral
glass which contains a small quantity of carbonic gas. When
the apparatus is at work this gas becomes luminous, giving
out a white and continuous light. Thus provided, I can
breathe and I can see.”

“Captain Nemo, to all my objections you make such
crushing answers, that I dare no longer doubt. But if I am-
forced to admit the Rouquayrol and Ruhmkorff apparatus,
I must be allowed some reservations with regard to the
gun I am to carry.”

“But it is not a gun for powder,” answered the Captain.

“Then it is an air-gun.”

“Doubtless! How would you have me manufacture gun¬
powder on board, without either saltpetre, sulphur or char¬
coal?”

“Besides,” I added, “to fire under water in a medium
eight hundred and fifty-five times denser than the air, we
must conquer very considerable resistance.”

“That would be no difficulty. There exist guns, according
to Fulton, perfected in England by Philip Coles and Bur¬
ley, in France by Furcy, and in Italy by Landi, which are
furnished with a peculiar system of closing, which can fire

80 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

under these conditions. But I repeat, having no powder, I
use air under great pressure, which the pumps of the Nauti¬
lus furnish abundantly.”

“But this air must be rapidly used?”

“Well, have I not my Rouquayrol reservoir, which can
furnish it at need? A tap is all that is required. Besides, M.
Aronnax, you must see yourself that, during our submarine
hunt, we can spend but little air and but few balls.”

“But it seems to me that in this twilight, and in the midst
of this fluid, which is very dense compared with the atmos¬
phere, shots could not go far, nor easily prove mortal.”

“Sir, on the contrary, with this gun every blow is mor¬
tal; and however lightly the animal is touched, it falls as
if struck by a thunderbolt.”

“Why?”

“Because the balls sent by this gun are not ordinary
balls, but little cases of glass (invented by Leniebroek, an
Austrian chemist), of which I have a large supply. These
glass cases are covered with a case of steel, and weighted
with a pellet of lead; they are real Leydon bottles, into
which the electricity is forced to a very high tension. With
the sh'ghtest shock they are discharged, and the animal,
however strong it may be, falls dead. I must tell you that
these cases are size number four, and that the charge for
an ordinary gun would be ten.”

“I will argue no longer,” I replied, rising from the table;
“I have nothing left me but to take my gun. At all events,
I will go where you go.”

Captain Nemo then led me aft; and in passing before
Conseil’s cabin, I called my two companions, who followed
immediately. We then came to a kind of cell near the ma¬
chinery-room, in which we were to put on our walking-
dress.

IS. A Walk on the Bottom of the Sea

This cell was, to speak correctly, the arsenal and ward¬
robe of the Nautilus. A dozen diving apparatuses hung from
the partition, waiting our use. Ned Land, on seeing them,
showed evident repugnance to dress himself in one.

“But, my worthy Ned, the forests of the Island of Crespo
are nothing but submarine forests.”

A WALK ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 81

“Good I” said the disappointed harpooner, who saw his
dreams of fresh meat fade away. “And you, M. Aronnax,
are you going to dress yourself in those clothes?”

“There is no alternative, Master Ned.”

“As you please, sir,” replied the harpooner, shrugging his
shoulders; “but as for me, unless I am forced, I will never
get into one.”

“No one will force you, Master Ned,” said Captain
Nemo.

“Is Conseil going to risk it?” asked Ned.

“I follow my master wherever he goes,” replied Conseil.

At the Captain’s call two of the ship’s crew came to help
us to dress in these heavy and impervious clothes, made of
india-rubber without seam, and constructed expressly to re¬
sist considerable pressure. One would have thought it a
suit of armour, both supple and resisting. This formed
trousers and waistcoat. The trousers were finished off with
thick boots, weighted with heavy leaden soles. The texture
of the waistcoat was held together by bands of copper,
which crossed the chest, protecting it from the great pres¬
sure of the water, and leaving the lungs free to act; the
sleeves ended in gloves, which in no way restrained the
movement of the hands. There was a vast difference no¬
ticeable between these consummate apparatuses and the
old cork breastplates, jackets, and other contrivances in
vogue during the eighteenth century.

Captain Nemo and one of his companions (a sort of Her¬
cules, who must have possessed great strength), Conseil,
and myself, were soon enveloped in the dresses. There re¬
mained nothing more to be done but enclose our heads in
the metal box. But before proceeding to this operation, I
asked the Captain’s permission to examine the guns we
were to carry.

One of the Nautilus men gave me a simple gun, the butt
end of which, made of steel, hollow in the centre, was rather
large. It served as a reservoir for compressed air, which a
valve, worked by a spring, allowed to escape into a metal
tube. A box of projectiles, in a groove in the thickness of
the butt end, contained about twenty of these electric balls,
which, by means of a spring, were forced into the barrel
of the gun. As soon as one shot was fired, another was
ready.

82 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“Captain Nemo,” said I, “this arm is perfect, and easily
handled; I only ask to be allowed to try it. But how shall
we gain the bottom of the sea?”

“At this moment, Professor, the Nautilus is stranded in
five fathoms, and we have nothing to do but to start.”

“But how shall we get off?”

“You shall see.”

Captain Nemo thrust his head into the helmet, Conseil
and I did the same, not without hearing an ironical “Good
sport 1” from the Canadian. The upper part of our dress
terminated in a copper collar, upon which was screwed the
metal helmet. Three holes, protected by thick glass, allowed
us to see in all directions, by simply turning our head in
the interior of the head-dress. As soon as it was in posi¬
tion, the Rouquayrol apparatus on our backs began to act:
and, for my part, I could breathe with ease.

With the Ruhmkorff lamp hanging from my belt, and
the gun in my hand, I was ready to set out. But to speak
the truth, imprisoned in these heavy garments, and glued
to the deck by my leaden soles, it was impossible for me
to take a step.

But this state of things was provided for. I felt myself
being pushed into a little room next to the wardrobe-room.
My companions followed, towed along in the same way. I
heard a watertight door, furnished with stopper plates,
close upon us, and we were wrapped in profound darkness.

After some minutes, a loud hissing was heard. I felt the
cold mount my feet to my chest. Evidently from some part
of the vessel they had, by means of a tap, given entrance
to the water, which was invading us, and with which the
room was soon filled. A second door cut in the side of the
Nautilus then opened. We saw a faint light. In another in¬
stant our feet trod the bottom of the sea.

And now, how can I retrace the impression left upon me
by that walk under the waters? Words are impotent to re¬
late such wonders 1 Captain Nemo walked in front, his com¬
panion followed some steps behind. Conseil and I remained
near each other, as if an exchange of words had been pos¬
sible through our metallic cases. I no longer felt the weight
of my clothing, or of my shoes, of my reservoir of air, or my
thick helmet, in the midst of which my head rattled like
an almond in its shell.

A WALK ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA 83 '

The light, which lit the soil thirty feet below the surface
of the ocean, astonished me by its power. The solar rays
shone through the watery mass easily, and dissipated all
colour, and I clearly distinguished objects at a distance of
a hundred and fifty yards. Beyond that the tints darkened
into fine gradations of ultramarine, and faded into vague
obscurity. Truly this water which surrounded me was but
another air denser than the terrestrial atmosphere, but al¬
most as transparent. Above me was the calm surface of the
sea.

We were walking on fine even sand, not wrinkled, as on
a flat shore, which retains the impression of the billows.
This dazzling carpet, really a reflector, repelled the rays
of the sun with wonderful intensity, which accounted for
the vibration which penetrated every atom of liquid. Shall
I be believed when I say that, at the depth of thirty feet, I
could see as if I was in broad daylight?

For a quarter of an hour I trod on this sand, sown with
the impalpable dust of shells. The hull of the Nautilus,
resembling a long shoal, disappeared by degrees; but its
lantern, when darkness should overtake us in the waters,
would help to guide us on board by its distinct rays.

Soon forms of objects outlined in the distance were dis¬
cernible. I recognised magnificent rocks, hung with a tapes¬
try of zoophytes of the most beautiful kind, and I was at
first struck by the peculiar effect of this medium.

It was then ten in the morning; the rays of the sun struck
the surface of the waves at rather an oblique angle, and at
the touch of their light, decomposed by refraction as
through a prism, flowers, rocks, plants, shells, and polypi
were shaded at the edges of the seven solar colours. It was
marvellous, a feast for the eyes, this complication of col¬
oured tints, a perfect kaleidoscope of green, yellow, orange,
violet, indigo, and blue; in one word, the whole palette of
an enthusiastic colourist! Why could I not communicate
to Conseil the lively sensations which were mounting to
my brain, and rival him in expressions of admiration? For
aught I knew, Captain Nemo and his companion might be
able to exchange thoughts by means of signs previously
agreed upon. So, for want of better, I talked to myself; I
declaimed in the copper box, which covered my head,

84 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

thereby expending more air in vain words than was per¬
haps expedient.

Various kinds of isis, clusters of pure tuft-coral, prickly
fungi, and anemones, formed a brilliant garden of flowers,
enamelled with porphitae, decked with their collarettes of
blue tentacles, sea-stars studding the sandy bottom, to¬
gether with asterophytons like fine lace embroidered by
the hands of naiads, whose festoons were waved by the gen¬
tle undulations caused by our walk. It was a real grief to
me to crush under my feet the brilliant specimens of mol¬
luscs which strewed the ground *by thousands, of hammer¬
heads, donacise (veritable bounding shells), of staircases,
and red helmet-shells, angel-wings, and many others pro¬
duced by this inexhaustible ocean. But we were bound to
walk, so we went on, whilst above our heads waved shoals
of physalides leaving their tentacles to float in their train,
medusae whose umbrellas of opal or rose-pink, escalloped
with a band of blue, sheltered us from the rays of the sun
and fiery pelagiae, which, in the darkness, would have
strewn our path with phosphorescent light.

All these wonders I saw in the space of a quarter of a
mile, scarcely stopping, and following Captain Nemo, who
beckoned me on by signs. Soon the nature of the soil
changed; to the sandy plain succeeded an extent of slimy
mud, which the Americans call “ooze,” composed of equal
parts of silicious and calcareous shells. We then travelled
over a plain of sea-weed of wild and luxuriant vegetation.
This sward was of close, texture, and soft to the feet, and
rivalled the softest carpet woven by the hand of man. But
whilst verdure was spread at our feet, it did not abandon
our heads. A light network of marine plants, of that inex¬
haustible family of sea-weeds of which more than two thou¬
sand kinds are known, grew on the surface of the water.
I saw long ribbons of fucus floating, some globular, others
tuberous; laurenciae and cladostephi of most delicate foli¬
age, and some rhodomeniae palmate, resembling the fan
of a cactus. I noticed that the green plants kept nearer the
top of the sea, whilst the red were at a greater depth, leav¬
ing to the black or brown hydrophytes the care of forming
gardens and parterres in the remote beds of the ocean.

We had quitted the Nautilus about an hour and a half.
It was near noon; I knew by the perpendicularity of the

A SUBMARINE FOREST

85

sun’s rays, which were no longer refracted. The magical
colours disappeared by degrees and the shades of emerald
and sapphire were effaced. We walked with a regular step,
which rang upon the ground with astonishing intensity; the
slightest noise was transmitted with a quickness to which
the ear is unaccustomed on the earth; indeed, water is a
better conductor of sound than air, in the ratio of four to
one. At this period the earth sloped downwards; the light
took a uniform tint. We were at a depth of a hundred and
five yards and twenty inches, undergoing a pressure of six
atmospheres.

At this depth I could still see the rays of the sun, though
feebly; to their intense brilliancy had succeeded a reddish
twilight, the lowest state between day and night; but we
could still see well enough; it was not necessary to resort
to the Ruhmkorff apparatus as yet. At this moment Cap¬
tain Nemo stopped; he waited till I joined him, and then
pointed to an obscure mass, looming in the shadow, at' a
short distance.

“It is the forest of the Island of Crespo,” thought I; —
and I was not mistaken.

16. A Submarine Forest

We had at last arrived on the borders of this forest, doubt¬
less one of the finest of Captain Nemo’s immense domains.
He looked upon it as his own, and considered he had the
same right over it that the first men had in the first days of
the world. And, indeed, who would have disputed with him
the possession of this submarine property? What other
hardier pioneer would come, hatchet in hand, to cut down
the dark copses?

This forest was composed of large tree-plants; and the
moment we penetrated under its vast arcades, I was struck
by the singular position of their branches — a position I had
not yet observed.

Not an herb which carpeted the ground, not a branch
which clothed the trees, was either broken or bent, nor did
they extend horizontally; all stretched up to the surface of
the ocean. Not a filament, not a ribbon, however thin they
might be, but kept as straight as a rod of iron. The fuci
and llianas grew in rigid perpendicular lines, due to the

86 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

density of the element which had produced them. Motion¬
less, yet when bent to one side by the hand, they directly
resumed their former position. Truly it was the region of
perpendicularity!

I soon accustomed myself to this fantastic position, as
well as to the comparative darkness which surrounded us.
The soil of the forest seemed covered with sharp blocks,
difficult to avoid. The submarine flora struck me as being
very perfect, and richer even than it would have been in
the arctic or tropical zones, where these productions are
not so plentiful. But for some minutes I involuntarily con¬
founded the genera, taking zoophytes for hydrophytes, ani¬
mals for plants; and who would not have been mistaken?
The fauna and the flora are too closely allied in this sub¬
marine world.

These plants are self-propagated, and the principle of
their existence is in the water, which upholds and nourishes
them. The greater number, instead of leaves, shot forth
blades of capricious shapes, comprised within a scale of
colours, — pink, carmine, green, olive, fawn, and brown. I
saw there (but not dried up, as our specimens of the Nauti¬
lus are) pavonari spread like a fan, as if to catch the
breeze; scarlet ceramies, whose laminaries extended their
edible shoots of fern-shaped nereocysti, which, grow to a
height of fifteen feet; clusters of acetabuli, whose stems in¬
crease in size upwards; and numbers of other marine
plants, all devoid of flowers!

“Curious anomaly, fantastic element!” said an ingen¬
ious naturalist, “in which the animal kingdom blossoms, and
the vegetable does not! ”

Under these numerous shrubs (as large as trees of the
temperate zone), and under their damp shadow, were
massed together real bushes of living flowers, hedges of
zoophytes, on which blossomed some zebrameandrines,
with crooked grooves, some yellow caryophyllise; and, to
complete the allusion, the fish-flies flew , from branch to
branch like a swarm of hummingbirds, whilst yellow lepisa-
comthi, with bristling jaws, dactylopteri, and monocentrides
rose at our feet like a flight of snipes.

In about an hour Captain Nemo gave the signal to halt.
I, for my part, was not sorry, and we stretched ourselves

A SUBMARINE FOREST 87

under an arbour of alaria, the long thin blades of which
stood up like arrows.

This short rest seemed delicious to me; there was noth¬
ing wanting but the charm of conversation; but, impossi¬
ble to speak, impossible to answer, I only put my great
copper head to Conseil’s. I saw the worthy fellow’s eyes
glistening with delight, and to show his satisfaction, he
shook himself in his breastplate of air in the most comical
way in the world.

After four hours of this walking I was surprised not to
find myself dreadfully hungry. How to account for this
state of the stomach I could not tell. But instead I felt an
insurmountable desire to sleep, which happens to all divers.
And my eyes soon closed behind the thick glasses, and I
fell into a heavy slumher, which the movement alone had
prevented before. Captain Nemo and his robust compan¬
ion, stretched in the clear crystal, set us the example.

How long I remained buried in this drowsiness I cannot
judge; but, when I woke, the sun seemed sinking towards
the horizon. Captain Nemo had already risen, and I was
beginning to stretch my limbs, when an unexpected appari¬
tion brought me briskly to my feet.

A few steps off, a monstrous sea-spider, about thirty-eight
inches high, was watching me with squinting eyes, ready
to spring upon me. Though my diver’s dress was thick
enough to defend me from the bite of this animal, I could
not help shuddering with horror. Conseil and the sailor of
the Nautilus awoke at this moment. Captain Nemo pointed
out the hideous crustacean, which a blow from the butt end
of the gun knocked over, and I saw the horrible claws of
the monster writhe in terrible convulsions. This accident
reminded me that other animals more to be feared might
haunt these obscure depths, against whose attacks my div¬
ing-dress would not protect me. I had never thought of it
before, but I now resolved to be upon my guard. Indeed,
I thought that this halt would mark the termination of our
walk; but I was mistaken, for, instead of returning to the
Nautilus, Captain Nemo continued his bold excursion. The
ground was still on the incline, its declivity seemed to be
getting greater, and to be leading us to greater depths. It
must have been about three o’clock when we reached a nar¬
row valley, between high perpendicular walls, situated

88 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

about seventy-five fathoms deep. Thanks to the perfection
of our apparatus, we were forty-five fathoms below the
limit which nature seems to have imposed on man as to
his submarine excursions;

I say seventy-five fathoms, though I had no instrument
by which to judge the distance. But I knew that even in
the clearest waters the solar rays could not penetrate fur¬
ther. And accordingly the darkness deepened. At ten paces
not an object was visible. I was groping my way, when I
suddenly saw a brilliant white light. Captain Nemo had
just put his electric apparatus into use; his companion did
the same, and Conseil and I followed their example. By
turning a screw I established a communication between the
wire and the spiral glass, and the sea, lit by our four lan¬
terns, was illuminated for a circle of thirty-six yards.

Captain Nemo was still plunging into the dark depths of
the forest, whose trees were getting scarcer at every step. I
noticed that vegetable life disappeared sooner than animal
life. The medusae had already abandoned the arid soil,
from which a great number of animals, zoophytes, articu-
lata, molluscs, and fishes, still obtained sustenance.

As we walked, I thought the light of our Ruhmkorff ap¬
paratus could not fail to draw some inhabitant from its
dark couch. But if they did approach us, they at least kept
at a respectful distance from the hunters. Several times I
saw Captain Nemo stop, put his gun to his shoulder, and
after some moments drop it and walk on. At last, after
about four hours, this marvellous excursion came to an end.
A wall of superb rocks, in an imposing mass, rose before
us, a heap of gigantic blocks, an enormous steep granite'
shore, forming dark grottos, but which presented no prac¬
ticable slope; it was the prop of the Island of Crespo. It
was the earth I Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. A gesture
of his brought us all to a halt, and however, desirous I
might be to scale the wall, I was obliged to stop. Here
ended Captain Nemo’s domains. And he would not go be¬
yond them. Further on was a portion of the globe he might
not trample upon.

The return began. Captain Nemo had returned to the
head of his little band, directing their course without hesi¬
tation. I thought we were not following the same road to
return to the Nautilus. The new road was very steep, and

A SUBMARINE FOREST 89

consequently very painful. We approached the surface of
the sea rapidly. But this return to the upper strata was
not so sudden as to cause relief from the pressure too rap¬
idly, which might have produced serious disorder in our
organisation, and brought on internal lesions, so fatal to
divers. Very soon light reappeared and grew, and the sun
being low on the horizon, the refraction edged the different
objects with a spectral ring. At ten yards and a half deep,
we walked amidst a shoal of little fishes of all kinds, more
numerous than the birds of the air, and also more agile;
but no aquatic game worthy of a shot had as yet met our
gaze, when at that moment I saw the Captain shoulder his
gun quickly, and follow a moving object into the shrubs.
He fired; — I heard a slight hissing, and a creature fell
stunned at some distance from us. It was a magnificent sea-
otter, an enhydrus, the only exclusively marine quadruped.
This otter was five feet long, and must have been very valu¬
able. Its skin, chestnut-brown above, and silvery under¬
neath, would have made one of those beautiful furs so
sought after in the Russian and Chinese markets; the fine¬
ness and the lustre of its coat would certainly fetch £80. I
admired this curious mammal, with its rounded head orna¬
mented with short ears, its round eyes and white whiskers
like those of a cat, with webbed feet and nails, and tufted
tail. This precious animal, hunted and tracked by fisher¬
men, has now become very rare, and taken refuge chiefly
in the northern parts of the Pacific, or probably its race
would soon become extinct.

Captain Nemo’s companion took the beast, threw it over
his shoulder, and we continued our journey. For one hour
a plain of sand lay stretched before us. Sometimes it rose
to within two yards and some inches of the surface of the
water. I then saw our image clearly reflected, drawn in¬
versely, and above us appeared an identical group reflect¬
ing our movements and our actions; in a word, like us in
every point, except that they walked with their heads
downward and their feet in the air.

Another effect I noticed, which was the passage of thick
clouds which formed and vanished rapidly; but on reflec¬
tion I understood that these seeming clouds were due to
the varying thickness of the reeds at the bottom, and I
could even see the fleecy foam which their broken tops

90

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
multiplied on the water, and the shadows of large birds
passing above our heads, whose rapid flight I could discern
on the surface of the sea.

On this occasion, I was witness to one of the finest gun¬
shots which ever made the nerves of a hunter thrill. A
large bird of great breadth of wing, clearly visible, ap¬
proached, hovering over us. Captain Nemo’s companion
shouldered his gun and fired, when it was only a few yards
above the waves. The creature fell stunned, and the force
of its fall brought it within the reach of the dexterous
hunter’s grasp. It was an albatross of the finest kind.

Our march had not been interrupted by this incident.
For two hours we followed these sandy plains, then fields
of algae very disagreeable to cross. Candidly, I could do
no more when I saw a glimmer of light, which, for a half
mile, broke the darkness of the waters. It was the lantern
of the Nautilus. Before twenty minutes were over we should
be on board, and I should be able to breathe with ease, for
it seemed that 'my reservoir supplied air very deficient in
oxygen. But I did not reckon on an accidental meeting,
which delayed our arrival for some time.

I had remained some steps behind, when I presently saw
Captain Nemo coming hurriedly towards me. With his
strong hand he bent me to the ground, his companion doing
the same to Conseil. At first I knew not what to think of
this sudden attack, but I was soon reassured by seeing the
Captain lie down beside me, and remain immovable.

I was stretched on the ground, just under shelter of a
bush of algae, when, raising my head, I saw some enor¬
mous mass, casting phosphorescent gleams, pass bluster-
ingly by.

My blood froze in my veins as I recognized two formida¬
ble sharks which threatened us. It was a couple of tintoreas,
terrible creatures, with enormous tails and a dull glassy
stare, the phosphorescent matter ejected from holes pierced
around the muzzle. Monstrous brutes 1 which would crush
a whole man in their iron jaws. I did not know whether
Conseil stopped to classify them; for my part, I noticed
their silver bellies, and their huge mouths bristling with
teeth, from a very unscientific point of view, and more as
a possible victim than as a naturalist.

Happily the voracious creatures do not see well. They

FOUR THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE PACIFIC 91
passed without seeing us, brushing us with their brownish
fins, and we escaped by a miracle from a danger certainly
greater than meeting a tiger full-face in the forest. Half an
hour after, guided by the electric light, we reached the
Nautilus. The outside door had been left open, and Cap¬
tain Nemo closed it as soon as we had entered the first cell.
He then pressed a knob. I heard the pumps working in
the midst of the vessel, I felt the water sinking from around
me, and in a few moments the cell was entirely empty. The
inside door then opened, and we entered the vestry.

There our diving-dress was taken off, not without some
trouble; and, fairly worn out from want of food and sleep,
I returned to my room, in great wonder at this surprising
excursion at the bottom of the sea.

17. Four Thousand Leagues Under the Pacific

The next morning, the 18th of November, I had quite re¬
covered from my fatigues of the day before, and I went up
on to the platform, just as the second lieutenant was utter¬
ing his daily phrase.

I was admiring the magnificent aspect of the ocean when
Captain Nemo appeared. He did not seem to be aware of
my presence, and began a series of astronomical observa¬
tions. Then, when he had finished, he went and leant on
the cage of the watch-light, and gazed abstractedly on the
ocean. In the meantime, a number of the sailors of the
Nautilus, all strong and healthy men, had come up on to
the platform. They came to draw up the nets that had been
laid all night. These sailors were evidently of different na¬
tions, although the European type was visible in all of
them. I recognised some unmistakable Irishmen, French¬
men, some Slavs, and a Greek or a Candiote. They were
civil, and only used that odd language among themselves,
the origin of which I could not guess, neither could I ques¬
tion them.

The nets were hauled in. They were a large kind of
“chaluts,” like those on the Normandy coasts, great pockets
that the waves and a chain fixed in the smaller meshes,
kept open. These pockets, drawn by iron poles, swept
through the water, and gathered in everything in its way.
That day they brought up curious specimens from those

92

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
productive coasts, — fishing-frogs that, from their comical
movements, have acquired the name of buffoons; black
commersons, furnished with antennae; trigger-fish, encir¬
cled with red bands; orthragorisci, with very subtle venom;
some olive-coloured lampreys; macrorhynci, covered with
silvery scales; trichiuri, the electric power of which is equal
to that of the gymnotus and cramp-fish; scaly notopteri,
with transverse brown bands; greenish cod; several varie¬
ties of gobies, etc.; also some larger fish; a caranx with a
prominent head a yard long; several fine bonitos, streaked
with blue and silver; and three splendid tunnies, which,
in spite of the swiftness of their motion, had not escaped
the net.

I reckoned that the haul had brought in more than nine
hundred weight of fish. It was a fine haul, but not to be
wondered at. Indeed, the nets are let down for several
hours, and enclose in their meshes an infinite variety. We
had no lack of excellent food, and the rapidity of the Nau¬
tilus and the attraction of the electric light could always
renew our supply. These several productions of the sea
were immediately lowered through the panel to the stew¬
ard’s room, some to be eaten fresh, and others pickled.

The fishing ended, the provision of air renewed, I
thought that the Nautilus was about to continue its sub¬
marine excursion, and was preparing to return to my room,
when, without further preamble, the Captain turned to me,
saying —

“Professor, is not this ocean gifted with real life? It has
its tempers and its gentle moods. Yesterday it slept as we
did, and now it has woke after a quiet night. Lookl” he
continued, “it wakes under the caresses of the sun. It is
going to renew its diurnal existence. It is an interesting
study to watch the play of its organisation. It has a pulse,
arteries, spasms; and I agree with the learned Maury, who
discovered in it a circulation as real as the circulation of
blood in animals.

“Yes, the ocean has indeed circulation, and to promote
it, the Creator has caused things to multiply in it — caloric,
salt, and animalculae.”

When Captain Nemo spoke thus, he seemed altogether '
changed, and aroused an extraordinary emotion in me.

“Also,” he added, “true existence is there; and I can

FOUR THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE PACIFIC 93
imagine the foundations of nautical towns, clusters of sub-'
marine houses, which, like the Nautilus, would ascend
every morning to breathe at the surface of the water, free
towns, independent cities. Yet who knows whether some
despot — — ”

Captain Nemo finished his sentence with a violent ges¬
ture. Then, addressing me as if to chase away some sorrow¬
ful thought —

“M. Aronnax,” he asked, “do you know the depth of the
ocean?”

“I only know, Captain, what the principal soundings
have taught us.”

“Could you tell me them, so that I can suit them to my
purpose?”

“These are some,” I replied, “that I remember. If I am
not mistaken, a depth of 8000 yards has been found in the
North Atlantic, and 2S00 yards in the Mediterranean. The
most remarkable soundings have been made in the South
Atlantic, near the 35th parallel, and they gave 12,000
yards, 14,000 yards, and 15,000 yards. So sum up all, it is
reckoned that if the bottom of the sea were levelled, its
mean depth would be about one and three-quarter leagues.”

“Well, Professor,” replied the Captain, “we shall show
you better than that, I hope. As to the mean depth of this
part of the Pacific, I tell you it is only 4000 yards.”

Having said this, Captain Nemo went towards the panel,
and disappeared down the ladder. I followed him, and went
into the large drawing-room. The screw was immediately
put in motion, and the log gave twenty miles an hour.

During the days and weel?s that passed, Captain .Nemo
was very sparing of his visits. I seldom saw him. The lieu¬
tenant pricked the ship’s course regularly on the chart, so
I could always tell exactly the route of the Nautilus.

Nearly every day, for some time, the’ panels of the draw¬
ing-room were opened, and we were never tired of penetrat¬
ing the mysteries of the submarine world.

The general direction of the Nautilus was south-east, and
it kept between 100 and 150 yards of depth. One day, how¬
ever, I do not know why, being drawn diagonally by means
of the inclined planes, it touched the bed of the sea. The
thermometer indicated a temperature of 4.25 (cent.); a

'94 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

temperature that at this depth seemed common to all lati¬
tudes.

At three o’clock in the morning of the 26th of Novem¬
ber, the Nautilus crossed the tropic of Cancer at 172°
longitude. On the 27th instant it sighted the Sandwich Is¬
lands, where Cook died, February 14, 1779. We had then
gone 4860 leagues from our starting-point. In the morning,
when I went on the platform, I saw, two miles to wind¬
ward, Hawaii, the largest of the seven islands that form
the group. I saw clearly the cultivated ranges, and the sev¬
eral mountain chains that run parallel with the side, and
the volcanoes that overtop Mouna-Rea, which rise 5000
yards above the level of the sea. Besides other things the
nets brought up, were several flabellariae and graceful
polypi, that are peculiar to that part of the ocean. The di¬
rection of the Nautilus was still to the south-east. It crossed
the equator December 1, in 142° longitude; and on the 4th
of the same month, after crossing rapidly and without any¬
thing particular occurring, we sighted the Marquesas group.
I saw, three miles off, at 8° 57' latitude south, and 139°
32' west longitude, Martin’s peak in Nouka-Hiva, the larg¬
est of the group that belongs to France. I only saw the
woody mountains against the horizon, because Captain
Nemo did not wish to bring the ship to the wind. There
the nets brought up beautiful specimens of fish; chory-
phenes, with azure fins and tails like gold, the flesh of
which is unrivalled; hologymnoses, nearly destitute of
scales, but of exquisite flavour; ostorhyncs, with bony
jaws, and yellow-tinged thasards, as good as bonitos; all
fish that would be of use to us. After leaving these charm¬
ing islands protected by the French flag, from the 4th to
the 11th of December the Nautilus sailed over about 2000
miles. This navigation was remarkable for the meeting with
an immense shoal of calmars, near neighbours to the cuttle.
The French fishermen call them hornets ; they belong to
the cephalopod class, and to the dibranchial family, that
comprehends the cuttles and the argonauts. These animals
were particularly studied by students of antiquity, and they
furnished numerous metaphors to the popular orators, as
well as excellent dishes for the tables of the rich citizens,
if one can believe Athenasus, a Greek doctor, who lived
before Galen. It was during the' night of the 9th or 10th

FOUR THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE PACIFIC 95
of December that the Nautilus came' across this shoal of
molluscs, that are peculiarly nocturnal. One could count
them by millions. They emigrate from the temperate to
the warmer zones, following the track of herrings and sar¬
dines. We watched them through the thick crystal panes,
swimming down the wind with great rapidity, moving by
means of their locomotive tube, pursuing fish and molluscs,
eating the little ones, eaten by the big ones, and tossing
about in indescribable confusion the ten arms that nature
has placed on their heads like a crest of pneumatic ser¬
pents. The Nautilus, in spite of its speed, sailed for several
hours in the midst of these animals, and its nets brought
in an enormous quantity, among which I recqgnized the
nine species that D’Orbigny classed for the Pacific. One saw,
while crossing, that the sea displays the most wonderful
sights. They were in endless variety. The scene changed
continually, and we were called upon not only to contem¬
plate the works of the Creator in the midst of the liquid
element, but to penetrate the awful mysteries of the ocean.

During the daytime of the 11th of December, I was busy
reading in the large drawing-room. Ned Land and Conseil
watched the luminous water through the half-open panels.
The Nautilus was immovable. While its reservoirs were
filled, it kept at a depth of 1000 yards, a region rarely vis¬
ited in the ocean, and in which large fish were seldom seen.

I was then reading a charming book by Jean Mace, “The
Slaves of the Stomach,” and I was learning some valuable
lessons from it, when Conseil interrupted me.

“Will master come here a moment?” he said, in a curious
voice.

“What is the matter, Conseil ? ”

“I want master to look.”

I rose, went and leaned on my elbows before the panes
and watched.

In a full electric light, an enormous black mass, quite
immovable, was suspended in the midst of the waters. I
watched it attentively, seeking to find out the nature of
this gigantic cetacean. But a sudden thought crossed my
mind. “A vessel! ” I said, half aloud.

“Yes,” replied the Canadian, “a disabled ship that has
sunk perpendicularly.”

Ned Land was right; we- were

close to a vessel of which

96 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

the tattered shrouds still hung from their chains. The fceel
seemed to be in good order, and it had been wrecked at
most some few hours. Three stumps of masts, broken off
about two feet above the bridge, showed that the vessel
had had to sacrifice its masts. This skeleton of what it had
once been, was a sad spectacle as it lay lost under the
waves, but sadder still was the sight of the bridge, where
some corpses, bound with ropes, were still lying.

What a scenel We were dumb; our hearts beat fast be¬
fore this shipwreck, taken as it were from life, and photo¬
graphed in its last moments. And I saw already, coming
towards it with hungry eyes, enormous sharks, attracted by
the human flesh.

However, the Nautilus, turning, went round the sub¬
merged vessel, and in one instant I read on the stern —
“The Florida, Sunderland.”

18. Vanikoro

This terrible spectacle was the forerunner of the series of
maritime catastrophes that the Nautilus was destined to
meet with in its route. As long as it went through more
frequented waters, we often saw the hulls of shipwrecked
vessels that were rotting in the depths, and deeper down,
cannons, bullets, anchors, chains, and a thousand other
iron materials eaten up by rust. However, on the 11th of
December, we sighted the Pomotu Islands, the old “dan¬
gerous group” of Bougainville, that extend over a space of
500 leagues at E.S.E., to W.N.W., from the Island Ducie to
that of Lazareff. This group covers an area of 370 square
leagues, and it is formed of sixty groups of islands, among
which the Gambier group is remarkable, over which France
exercises sway. These are coral islands, slowly raised, but
continuous, created by the daily work of polypi. Then this
new island will be joined later on to the neighbouring
groups, and a fifth continent will stretch from New Zealand
and New Caledonia, and from thence to the Marquesas.

One day, when I was suggesting this theory to Captain
Nemo, he replied coldly —

“The earth does not want new continents, but new men.”

Chance had conducted the Nautilus towards the Island
of Clermont-Tonnere, one of the-most curious of the group,

VANIKORO

97

that was discovered in 1822 by Captain Bell of the Mi¬
nerva. I could study now the madreporal system, to which
are due the islands in this ocean.

Madrepores (which must not be mistaken for corals)
have a tissue lined with a calcareous crust, and the modifi¬
cations of its structure have induced M. Milne Edwards,
my worthy master, to class them into five sections. The
animalcule that the marine polypus secretes live by mil¬
lions at the bottom of their cells. Their calcareous deposits
become rocks, reefs, and large and small islands. Here they
form a ring, surrounding a little inland lake, that communi¬
cates with the sea by means of gaps. There they make bar¬
riers of reefs like those on the coasts of New Caledonia and
the various Pomoton islands. In other places, like those at
Reunion and at Maurice, they raise fringed reefs, high,
straight walls, near which the depth of the ocean is con¬
siderable.

Some cable-lengths off the shores of the Island of Cler¬
mont I admired the gigantic work accomplished by these
microscopical workers. These walls are specially the work
of those madrepores known as milleporas, porites, madre¬
pores, and astraas. These polypi are found particularly in
the rough beds, of the sea, near the surface; and conse¬
quently it is from the upper part that they begin their
operations, in which they bury themselves by degrees with
the debris of the secretions that support them. Such is, at
least, Darwin’s theory, who thus explains the formation of
the atolls, a superior theory (to my mind) to that given of
the foundation of the madreporical works, summits of
mountains or volcanoes, that are submerged some feet be¬
low the level of the .sea.

I could observe closely these curious walls, for perpen¬
dicularly they were more than 300 yards deep, and our elec¬
tric sheets lighted up this calcareous matter brilliantly. Re¬
plying to a question. Co nseil asked me as to the time these
colossal barriers took to be raised, I astonished him much
by telling him that learned men reckoned it about the
eighth of an inch in a hundred years.

Towards evening Clermont-Tonnerre was lost in the dis¬
tance, and the route of the Nautilus was sensibly changed.
After having crossed the tropic of Capricorn in 135° longi¬
tude, it sailed W.N.W., making again for the tropical zone.

98 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

Although the summer sun was very strong, we did not suf¬
fer from heat, for at fifteen or twenty fathoms below the
surface, the temperature did not rise above from ten to
twelve degrees.

On December IS, we left to the east the bewitching
group of the Societies and the graceful Tahiti, queen of the
Pacific. I saw in the morning, some miles to the wind¬
ward, the elevated summits of the island. These waters fur¬
nished our table with excellent fish, mackerel, bonitos, and
albiCores, and some varieties of a sea-serpent called muni-
rophis.

On the 25th of December the Nautilus sailed into the
midst of the New Hebrides, discovered by Quiros in 1606,
and that Bougainville explored in 1768, and to which Cook
gave its present name in 1773. This group is composed
principally of nine large islands, that form a band of 120
leagues N.N.S. to S.S.W., between 15° and 20° south lati¬
tude, and 164° and 168° longitude. We passed tolerably
near to the Island of Aurou, that at noon looked like a mass
of green woods, surmounted by a peak of great height.

That day being Christmas Day, Ned Land seemed to re¬
gret sorely the non-celebration of “Christmas,” the family
fete of which Protestants are so fond. I had not seen Cap¬
tain Nemo for a week, when, on the morning of the 27 th,
he came into the large drawing-room, always seeming as
if he had seen you five minutes before. I was busily tracing
the route of the Nautilus on the planisphere. The Captain
came up to me, put his finger on one spot on the chart and
said this single word —

“Vanikoro.”

The effect was magical! it was the name of the islands
on which La Perouse had been lost! I rose suddenly.

“The Nautilus has brought us to Vanikoro?” I asked.

“Yes, Professor,” said the Captain.

“And I can visit the celebrated island where the Bous-
sole and the Astrolabe struck?”

“If you like, Professor.”

“When shall we be there?”

“We are there now.”

Followed by Captain Nemo, I went up on to the plat¬
form, and greedily scanned the horizon.

To the N.E. two volcanic islands emerged of unequal

VANIKORO

99

size, surrounded by a coral reef that measured forty miles
in circumference. We were dose to Vanikoro, redly the
one to which Dumont d’Urville gave the name of Isle de la
Recherche, and exactly fadng the little harbour of Vanou,
situated in 16° 4' south latitude, and 164° 32' east longi¬
tude. The earth seemed covered with verdure from the
shore to the summits in the interior, that were crowned by
Mount Kapogo, 476 feet high. The Nautilus, having passed
the outer belt of rocks by a narrow strait, found itself
among breakers where the sea was from thirty to forty
fathoms deep. Under the verdant shade of some mangroves
I perceived some savages, who appeared surprised at our
approach. In the long black body, moving between wind
and water, did they not see some formidable cetacean that
they regarded with suspidon?

Just then Captain Nemo asked me what I knew about
the wreck of La Perouse.

“Only what every one knows, Captain,” I replied.

“And could you tell me what every one knows about it?”
he inquired, ironically.

“Easily.”

I related to him all that the last works of Dumont d’Ur¬
ville had made known — works from which the following is
a brief account.

La Perouse, and his second, Captain de Langle, were
sent by Louis XVI, in 1785, on a voyage of drcumnaviga-
tion. They embarked in the corvettes the Boussole and the
Astrolabe, neither of which were again heard of. In 1791,
the French Government, justly uneasy as to the fate of
these two sloops, manned two large merchantmen, the Re¬
cherche and the Espirance, which left Brest the 28th of
September under the command of Bruni d’Entrecasteaux.

Two months after, they learned from Bowen, commander
of the Albemarle, that the debris of shipwrecked vessels had
been seen on the coasts of New Georgia. But D’Entre¬
casteaux, ignoring this communication — rather uncertain,
besides— directed his course towards the Admiralty Isles,
mentioned in a report of Captain Hunter’s as being the
place where La Perouse was wrecked.

They sought in vain. The Espirance and the Recherche
passed before Vanikoro without stopping there, and in fact,
this voyage was most disastrous, as it cost D’Entrecasteaux

•100 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

his life, and those of two of his lieutenants, besides several
of his crew.

Captain Dillon, a shrewd old Pacific sailor, was the first
to find unmistakable traces of the wrecks. On the ISth of
May, 1824, his vessel, the St. Patrick, passed close to Tiko-
pia, one of the New Hebrides. There a Lascar came along¬
side in a canoe, sold him the handle of a sword in silver,
that bore the print of characters engraved on the hilt. The
Lascar pretended that six years before, during a stay at
Vanikoro, he had seen two Europeans that belonged to some
vessels that had run aground on the reefs some years ago.

Dillon guessed that he meant La Perouse, whose disap¬
pearance had troubled the whole world. He tried to get on
to Vanikoro, where, according to the Lascar, he would find
numerous debris of the wreck, but winds and tide pre¬
vented him.

Dillon returned to Calcutta. There he interested the Asi¬
atic Society and the Indian Company in his discovery. A
vessel, to which was given the name of the Recherche, was
put at his disposal, and he set out, January 23, 1827, ac¬
companied by a French agent.

The Recherche, after touching at several points in the
Pacific, cast anchor before Vanikoro, July 7, 1827, in that
same harbour of Vanou where the Ndutilus was at this
time.

There it collected numerous relics of the wreck — iron
utensils, anchors, pulley-strops, swivel-guns, an 18 lb.-shot,
fragments of astronomical instruments, a piece of crown-
work, and a bronze clock, bearing this inscription — “Bazin
tn’a fait,” the mark of the foundry of the arsenal at Brest
about 1785. There could be no further doubt.

Dillon, having made all inquiries, stayed in the unlucky
place till October. Then he quitted Vanikoro, and directed
his course towards New Zealand; put into Calcutta, April
7, 1828, and returned to France, where he was warmly wel¬
comed by Charles X.

But at the same time, without knowing Dillon’s move¬
ments, Dumont d’Urville had already set out to find the
scene of the wreck. And they had learned from a whaler
that some medals and a cross of St. Louis had been found
in the hands of some savages of Louisiade and New Cale¬
donia. Dumont d’Urville, commander of the Astrolabe, had

VANIKORO

101

then sailed, and two months after Dillon had left Vanikoro,
he put into Hobart Town. There he learned the results of
Dillon’s inquiries, and found that a certain James Hobbs,
second lieutenant of the Union of Calcutta, after landing
on an island situated 8° 18' south latitude, and 156° 30'
east longitude, had seen some iron bars and red stuffs used
by the natives of these parts. Dumont d’Urville, much per¬
plexed, and not knowing how td credit the reports of low-
class journals, decided to follow Dillon’s track.

On the 10th of February, 1828, the Astrolabe appeared
off Tikopia, and took as guide and interpreter a deserter
found on the island; made his way to Vanikoro, sighted it
on the 12 th, lay among the reefs until the 14 th, and not
until the 20th did he cast anchor within the barrier in the
harbour of Vanou.

On the 23 rd, several officers went round the island, and
brought back some unimportant trifles. The natives, adopt¬
ing a system of denials and evasions, refused to take them
to the unlucky place. This ambiguous conduct led them to
believe that the natives had ill-treated the castaways, and
indeed they seemed to fear that Dumont d’Urville had
come to avenge La Perouse and his unfortunate crew.

However, on the 26th, appeased by some presents, and
understanding that they had no reprisals to fear, they led
M. Jacquireot to the scene of the wreck.

There, in three or four fathoms of water, between the
reefs of Pacou and Vanou, lay anchors, cannons, pigs of lead
and iron, embedded in the limy concretions. The large boat
and the whaler belonging to the Astrolabe were sent to this
place, and, not without some difficulty, their crews hauled
up an anchor weighing 1800 lbs., a brass gun, some pigs of
iron and two copper swivel-guns.

Dumont d’Urville, questioning the natives, learned, too,
that La Perouse, after losing both his vessels on the reefs of
this island, had constructed a smaller boat, only to be lost
a second time. Where? — no one knew.

But the French Government, fearing that Dumont d’Ur¬
ville was not acquainted with Dillon’s movements, had sent
the sloop Bayonnaise, commanded by Legoarant de Trome-
lin, to Vanikoro, which had been stationed on the west coast
of America. The Bayonnaise cast her anchor before Vani¬
koro some months after the departure of the Astrolabe, but

102 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

found no new document; but stated that the savages had
respected the monument to La Perouse. That is the sub¬
stance of what I told to Captain Nemo.

“So,” he said, “no one knows now where the third vessel
perished that was constructed by the castaways on the is¬
land of Vanikoro?”

“No one knows.”

Captain Nemo said nothing, but signed to me to follow
him into the large saloon. The Nautilus sank several yards
below the waves, and the panels were opened.

I hastened to the aperture, and under the crustations of
coral, covered with fungi, syphonules, alcyons, madrepores,
through myriads of charming fish— -girelles, glyphisidri,
pompherides, diacopes, and holocentres — I recognised cer¬
tain debris that the drags had not been^able to tear up —
iron stirrups, anchors, cannons, bullets, capstan fittings, the
stem of a ship, all objects clearly proving the wreck of some
vessel, and now carpeted with living flowers. While I was
looking on this desolate scene, Captain Nemo said, in a sad
voice —

“Commander La Perouse set out December 7, 1785, with
his vessels La Boussole and the Astrolabe. He first cast an¬
chor at Botany Bay, visited the Friendly Isles, New Cale¬
donia, then directed his course towards Santa Cruz, and
put into Namouka, one of the Hapai group. Then his vessels
struck on the unknown reefs of Vanikoro. The Boussole,
which went first, ran aground on the southerly coast. The
Astrolabe went to its help, and ran aground too. The first
vessel was destroyed almost immediately. The second,
stranded under the wind, resisted some days. The natives
made the castaways welcome. They installed themselves in
the island, and constructed a smaller boat with the debris
of the two large ones. Some sailors stayed willingly at Van¬
ikoro; the others, weak and ill, set out with La Perouse. They
directed their course towards the Solomon Isles, and there
perished, with everything, on the westerly coast of the
chief island of the group, between Capes Deception and
Satisfaction.”

“How do you know that?”

“By this, that I found on the spot where was the last
wreck.”

TORRES STRAITS 103

Captain Nemo showed me a tin-plate box, stamped with
the French arms, and corroded by the salt water. He opened
it, and I saw a bundle of papers, yellow but still readable.

They were the instructions of the naval minister to Com¬
mander La Perouse, annotated in the margin in Louis XVFs
handwriting.

“Ahl it is a fine death for a sailorl” said Captain Nemo,
at last. “A coral tomb makes a quiet grave; and I trust that
I and my comrades will find no other.”

19. Torres Straits

During the night of the 27th or 28th of December, the Nau¬
tilus left the shores of Vanikoro with great speed. Her course
was south-westerly, and in three days she had gone over
the 750 leagues that separated it from La Perouse’s group
and the southeast point of Papua.

Early on the 1st of January, 1863, Conseil joined me on
the platform.

“Master, will you permit me to wish you a happy new
year?”

“Whatl Conseil; exactly as if I were at Paris in my study
at the Jardin des Plantes? Well, I accept your good wishes,
and thank you for them. Only, I will ask you what you mean
by a ‘Happy new year,’ under our circumstances? Do you
mean the year that will bring us to the end of our imprison¬
ment, or the year that sees us continue this strange voyage?”

“Really, I do not know how to answer, master. We are
sure to see curious things, and for the last two months we
have not had time for ennui. The last marvel is always the
most astonishing; and if we continue this progression, I do
not know how it will end. It is my opinion that we shall
never again see the like. I think, then, with no offence to
master, that a happy year would be one in which we could
see everything.”

On January 2, we had made 11,340 miles, or 5250 French
leagues, since our starting-point in the Japan Seas. Before
the ship’s head stretched the dangerous shores of the Coral
Sea, on the north-east coast of Australia. Our boat lay along
some miles from the redoubtable bank on which Cook’s
vessel was lost, June 10, 1770. The boat in which Cook was

104 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

struck on a rock, and if it did not sink, it was owing to a
piece of the coral that was broken by the shock, and fixed it¬
self in the broken keel.

I had wished to visit the reef, 360 leagues long, against
which the sea, always rough, broke with great violence, with
a noise like thunder. But just then the inclined planes drew
the Nautilus down to a great depth, and I could see nothing
of the high coral walls. I had to content myself with the dif¬
ferent specimens of fish brought up by the nets. I remarked,
among others, some germons, a species of mackerel as large
as a tunny, with bluish sides, and striped with transverse
bands, that disappeared with the animal’s life.

These fish followed us in shoals, and furnished us with
very delicate food. We took also a large number of gilt-
heads; about one and a half inches long, tasting like dorys;
and flying pyrapeds like submarine swallows, which, in dark
nights, light alternately the air and water with their phos¬
phorescent light. Among the molluscs and zoophytes, I found
in the meshes of the net several species of alcyonarians,
echini, hammers, spurs, dials, cerites, and. hyalleae. The
flora was represented by beautiful floating seaweeds, lami¬
naria, and macrocystes, impregnated with the mucilage
that transudes through their pores; and among which I
gathered an admirable Nemastbma Geliniarois, that was
classed among the natural curiosities of the museum.

Two days after crossing the coral sea, January 4, we
sighted the Papuan coasts. On this occasion, Captain Nemo
informed me that his intention was to get into the Indian
Ocean by the Straits of Torres. His communication ended
there.

The Torres Straits are nearly thirty-four leagues wide;
but they are obstructed by an innumerable quantity of is¬
lands, islets, breakers, and rocks, that make its navigation al¬
most impracticable; so that Captain Nemo took all need¬
ful precautions to cross them. The Nautilus, floating be¬
twixt wind and water, went at a moderate pace. Her screw,
like a cetacean’s tail, beat the waves slowly.

Profiting by this, I and my two companions went up on
to the deserted platform. Before us was the steers¬
man’s cage, and I expected that Captain Nemo was there
directing the course of the Nautilus. I had before me the ex¬
cellent charts of the Straits of Torres made out by the hy-

TORRES STRAITS 105

drographical engineer Vincendon Dumoulin. These and
Captain King’s are the best charts that clear the intricacies
of this strait, and I consulted them attentively. Round the
Nautilus the sea dashed furiously. The course of the waves,
that went from south-east to north-west at the rate of two
and a half miles, broke on the coral that showed itself here
and there.

“This is a bad sea! ” remarked Ned Land.

“Detestable indeed, and one that does not suit a boat like
the Nautilus .”

“The captain must be very sure of his route, for I see
there pieces of coral that would do for its keel if it only
touched them slightly.”

Indeed the situation was dangerous, but the Nautilus
seemed to slide like magic off these rocks. It did not follow
the routes of the Astrolabe and the Zelee exactly, for they
proved fatal to Dumont d’Urville. It bore more northwards,
coasted the Island of Murray, and came back to the south¬
west towards Cumberland Passage. I thought it was going
to pass it by, when, going back to the north-west, it went
through a large quantity of islands and islets little known,
towards the Island Sound and Canal Mauvais.

I wondered if Captain Nemo, foolishly imprudent, would
steer his vessel into that pass where Dumont d’Urville’s
two corvettes touched; when, swerving again, and cutting
straight through to the west, he steered for the Island of
Gilboa.

It was then three in the afternoon. The tide began to re¬
cede, being quite full. The Nautilus approached the island,
that I still saw, with its remarkable border of screw-pines.
He stood off it at about two miles distant. Suddenly a shock
overthrew me. The Nautilus just touched a rock, and stayed
immovable, laying lightly to port side.

When I rose, I perceived Captain Nemo and his lieuten¬
ant on the platform. They were examining the situation of
the vessel, and exchanging words in their incomprehensible
dialect.

She was situated thus: — Two miles, on the starboard side,
appeared Gilboa, stretching from north to west like an im¬
mense arm. Towards the south and east some coral showed
itself, left by the ebb. We had run aground, and in one of
those seas where the tides are middling, — a sorry matter

106 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

for the floating of the Nautilus. However, the vessel had
not suffered, for her keel was solidly joined. But if she could
neither glide off nor move, she ran the risk of going for ever
fastened to these rocks, and then Captain Nemo’s submarine
vessel would be done for.

I was reflecting thus, when the Captain, cool and calm, al¬
ways master of himself, approached me.

“An accident?” I asked.

“No; an incident.”

“But an incident that will oblige you perhaps to become
an inhabitant of this land from which you flee?”

Captain Nemo looked at me curiously, and made a nega¬
tive gesture, as much as to say that nothing would force him
to set foot on terra firma again. Then he said —

“Besides, M. Aronnax, the Nautilus is not lost; it will
carry you yet into the midst of the marvels of the ocean.
Chur voyage is only begun, and I do not wish to be deprived
so soon of the honour of your company.”

“However, Captain Nemo,” I replied, without noticing
the ironical turn of his phrase, “the Nautilus ran aground in
open sea. Now the tides are not strong in the Pacific; and if
you cannot lighten the Nautilus, I do not see how it will be
reinflated.”

“The tides are not strong in the Pacific; you are right
there, Professor; but in Torres Straits, one finds still a dif¬
ference of a yard and a half between the level of high and low
seas. Today is January 4, and in five days the moon will be
full. Now, I shall be very much astonished if that complai¬
sant satellite does not raise these masses of water sufficiently,
and render me a service that I should be indebted for.”

Having said this, Captain Nemo, followed by his lieuten¬
ant, re-descended to the interior of the Nautilus. As to the
vessel, it moved not, and was immovable, as if the coralline
polypi had already walled it up with their indestructible ce¬
ment.

“Well, sir?” said Ned Land, who came up to me after the
departure of the Captain.

“Well, friend Ned, we will wait patiently for the tide
on the 9th; for it appears that the moon will have the good¬
ness to put it off again.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

TORRES STRAITS 107

“And this Captain is not going to cast anchor at all,
since the tide will suffice?” said Conseil, simply.

The Canadian looked at Conseil, then shrugged his
shoulders.

“Sir, you may believe me when I tell you that this piece of
iron will navigate neither on nor under the sea again; it is
only fit to be sold for its weight. I think, therefore, that the
time has come to part company with Captain Nemo.”

“Friend Ned, I do not despair of this stout Nautilus, as
you do; and in four days we shall know what to hold to on
the Pacific tides. Besides, flight might be possible if we were
in sight of the English or Provencal coasts; but on the Papuan
shores, it is another thing; and it will be time enough to
come to that extremity if the Nautilus does not recover it¬
self again, which I look upon as a grave event.

“But do they know, at least, how to act circumspectly?
There is an island; on that island there are trees; under
those trees, terrestrial animals, bearers of cutlets and roast-
beef, to which I would willingly give a trial.”

“In this, friend Ned is right,” said Conseil, “and I agree
with him. Could not master obtain permission from his
friend Captain Nemo to put us on land, if only so as not to
lose the habit of treading on the solid parts of our planet?”

“I can ask him, but he will refuse.”

“Will master risk it?” asked Conseil, “and we shall know
how to rely upon the Captain’s amiability.”

To my great surprise Captain Nemo , gave me the per¬
mission I asked for, and he gave it very agreeably, without
even exacting from me a promise to return to the vessel;
but flight across New Guinea might be very perilous, and I
should not have counselled Ned Land to attempt it. Better
to be a prisoner on board the Nautilus than to fall into the
hands of the natives.

At eight o’clock, armed with guns and hatchets, we got
off the Nautilus. The sea was pretty calm; a slight breeze
blew on land. Conseil and I rowing, we sped along quickly,
and Ned steered in the straight passage that the breakers
left between them. The boat was well handled, and moved
rapidly.

Ned Land could not restrain his joy. He was like a pris¬
oner that had escaped from prison, and knew not that it was
necessary to re-enter it.

108 20,000 ’ LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“Meat I We are going to eat some meat; and what
meat! ” he replied. “Real game! no, bread, indeed.”

“I do not say that fish is not good; we must not abuse it;
but a piece of fresh venison, grilled on live coals, will agree¬
ably vary our ordinary course.”

“Gourmand!” said Conseil, “he makes my mouth water.”

“It remains to be seen,” I said, “if these forests are full
of game, and if the game is not such as will hunt the hunter
himself.”

“Well said, M. Aronnax,” replied the Canadian, whose
teeth seemed sharpened like the edge of a hatchet; “but I
will eat tiger — loin of tiger — if there is no other quadruped
on this island.”

“Friend Ned is uneasy about it,” said Conseil.

“Whatever it may be,” continued Ned Land, “every ani¬
mal with four paws without feathers, or with two paws with¬
out feathers, will be saluted by my first shot.”

“Very well! Master Land’s imprudences are beginning.”

“Never fear, M. Aronnax,” replied the Canadian; “I do
not want twenty-five minutes to offer you a dish of my sort.”

At half-past eight the Nautilus boat ran softly aground,
on a heavy sand, after having happily passed the coral reef
that surrounds the Island of Gilboa.

20. A Few Days on Land

I was much impressed on touching land. Ned Land tried
the soil with his feet, as if to take possession of it. However,
it was only two months before that we had become, accord¬
ing to Captain Nemo, “passengers on board the Nautilus,”
but in reality, prisoners of its commander.

In a few minutes we were within musket-shot of the coast.
The soil was almost entirely madreporical, but certain
beds of dried-up torrents, strewn with debris of granite,
showed that this island was of the primary formation. The
whole horizon was hidden behind a beautiful curtain of for¬
ests. Enormous trees, the trunks of which attained a height
of 200 feet, were tied to each other by garlands of bindweed,
real natural hammocks, which a light breeze rocked. They
were mimosas, ficuses, casuarinae, teks, hibisci, and palm-
trees, mingled together in profusion; and under the shel-

A FEW DAYS ON LAND 109

ter of their verdant vault grew orchids, leguminous plants,
and ferns.

But without noticing all these beautiful specimens of
Papuan flora, the Canadian abandoned the agreeable for
the useful. He discovered a cocoa-tree, beat down some
of the fruit, broke them, and we drank the milk and ate the
nut, with a satisfaction that protested against the ordinary
food on the Nautilus.

“Excellent! ” said Ned Land.

“Exquisite! ” replied Conseil.

“And I do not think,” said the Canadian, “that he would
object to our introducing a cargo of cocoa-nuts on board.”

“I do not think he would, but he would not taste them.”

“So much the worse for him,” said Conseil.

“And so much the better for us,” replied Ned Land.
“There will be more for us.”

“One word only, Master Land,” I said to the harpooner,
who was beginning to ravage another cocoa-nut tree. “Co¬
coa-nuts are good things, but before filling the canoe with
them it would be wise to reconnoitre and see if the islajid
does not produce some substance not less useful. Fresh veg¬
etables would be welcome on board the Nautilus.”

“Master is right,” replied Conseil; “and I propose to re¬
serve three places in our vessel, one for fruits, the other for
vegetables, and the third for venison, of which I have not
yet seen the smallest specimen.”

“Conseil, we must not despair,” said the Canadian.

“Let us continue,” I returned, “and lie in wait. Although
the island seems uninhabited, it might still contain some
individuals that would be less hard than we on the nature
of game.”

“Ho! ho!” said Ned Land, moving his jaws significantly.

“Well, Ned! ” cried Conseil.

“My word!” returned the Canadian, “I begin to under¬
stand the charms of cannibalism.”

“Ned! Ned! What are you saying? You, a man-eater?
I should not feel safe with you, especially as I share your
cabin. I might perhaps wake one day to find myself half
devoured.”

“Friend Conseil, I like you much, but not enough to eat
you unnecessarily.”

110

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“I would not trust you,” replied Conseil. “But enough. We
must absolutely bring down some game to satisfy this canni¬
bal, or else one of these fine mornings, master will find
only pieces of his servant to serve him.”

While we were talking thus, we were penetrating the
sombre arches of the forest, and for two hours we surveyed
it in all directions.

Chance rewarded our search for eatable vegetables, and
one of the most useful products of the tropical zones fur¬
nished us with precious food that we missed on board. I
would speak of the bread-fruit tree, very abundant in
the Island of Gilboa; and I remarked chiefly the variety
destitute of seeds, which bears in Malaya the name of
“rima.”

Ned Land knew these fruits well. He had already eaten
many during his numerous voyages, and he knew how to
prepare the eatable substance. Moreover, the sight of them
excited him, and he could contain himself no longer.

“Master,” he said, “I shall die if I do not taste a little of
thi_s bread-fruit pie.”

“Taste it, friend Ned — taste it as you want. We are here
to make experiments — make them.”

“It won’t take long,” said the Canadian.

And provided with a lens, he lighted a fire of dead wood,
that crackled joyously. During this time, Conseil and I
chose the best fruits of the artocarpus. Some had not then
attained a sufficient degree of maturity; and their thick skin
covered a white but rather fibrous pulp. Others, the greater
number yellow and gelatinous, waited only to be picked.

These fruits enclosed no kernel. Conseil brought a dozen
to Ned Land, who placed them on a coal-fire, after having
cut them in thick slices, and while doing this repeating —

“You will see, master, how good this bread is. More so
when one has been deprived of it so long. It is not
even bread,” added he, “but a delicate pastry. You have
eaten one, master?”

“No, Ned.”

“Very well, prepare yourself for a juicy thing. If you do
not come for more, I am no longer the king of harpoon-
ers.”

After some minutes, the part of the fruits that was ex-

FEW DAYS ON LAND

111

posed to the fire was completely roasted. The interior looked
like a white pasty, a sort of soft crumb, the flavour
of which was like that of an artichoke.

It must be confessed this bread was excellent, and I ate of
it with great relish.

“What time is it now?” asked the Canadian.

“Two o’clock at least,” replied Conseil.

“How time flies on firm ground I ” sighed Ned Land.

“Let us be off,” replied Conseil.

We returned through the forest, and completed our col¬
lection by a raid upon the cabbage-palms, that we gathered
from the tops of the trees, little beans that I recognized as
the “abrou” of the Malays, and yams of a superior quality.

We were loaded when we reached the boat. But Ned Land
did not find his provision sufficient. Fate, however, favoured
us. Just as we were pushing off, he perceived several trees,
from twenty-five to thirty feet high, a species of palm-tree.
These trees, as valuable as the artocarpus, justly are reck¬
oned among the most useful products of Malaya.

At last, at five o’clock in the evening, loaded with our
riches, we quitted the shore, and half an hour after we
hailed the Nautilus. No one appeared on our arrival. The
enormous iron-plated cylinder seemed deserted. The pro¬
visions embarked, I descended to my chamber, and after
supper slept soundly.

The next day, January 6, nothing new on board. Not a
sound inside, not a sign of life. The boat rested along the
edge, in the same place in which we had left it. We resolved
to return to the island. Ned Land hoped to be more fortu¬
nate than on the day before with regard to the hunt, and
wished to visit another part of the forest.

At dawn we set off. The boat, carried on by the waves that
flowed to shore, reached the island in a few minutes.

We landed, and thinking that it was better to give in to
the Canadian, we followed Ned Land, whose long limbs
threatened to distance us. He wound up the coast towards
the west: then, fording some torrents, he gained the high
plain that was bordered with admirable forests. Some
kingfishers were rambling along the water-courses, but they
would not let themselves be approached. Their circum¬
spection proved to me that these birds knew what to expect

112 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

from bipeds of our species, and I concluded that, if the is¬
land was not inhabited, at least human beings occasionally
frequented it.

After crossing a rather large prairie, we arrived at the
skirts of a little wood that was enlivened by the songs and
flight of a large number of birds.

“There are only birds,” said Conseil.

“But they are eatable,” replied the harpooner.

“I do not agree with you, friend Ned, for I see only par¬
rots there.”

“Friend Conseil,” said Ned, gravely, “the parrot is like
pheasant to those who have nothing else.”

“And,” I added, “this bird, suitably prepared, is worth
knife and fork.”

Indeed, under the thick foliage of this wood, a world of
parrots were flying from branch to branch, only needing a
careful education to speak the human language. For the
moment, they were chattering with parrots of all colours,
and grave cockatoos, who seemed to meditate upon some
philosophical problem, whilst brilliant red lories passed like
a piece of bunting carried away by the breezes; papuans,
with the finest azure colours, and in all a variety of winged
things most charming to behold, but few eatable.

However, a bird peculiar to these lands, and which has
never passed the limits of the Arrow and Papuan Islands, was
wanting in this collection. But fortune reserved it for me
before long.

After passing through a moderately thick copse, we found
a plain obstructed with bushes. I saw then those magnifi¬
cent birds, the disposition of whose long feathers obliges
them to fly against the wind. Their undulating flight, grace¬
ful aerial curves, and the shading of their colours, at¬
tracted and charmed one’s looks. I had no trouble in recog¬
nising them.

“Birds of paradise I” I exclaimed.

The Malays, who carry on a great trade in these birds
with the Chinese, have several means that we could not
employ for taking them. Sometimes they put snares at the
top of high trees that the birds of paradise prefer to fre¬
quent. Sometimes they catch them with a viscous bird¬
line that paralyses their movements. They even go so far
as to poison the fountains that the birds generally drink

A FEW DAYS ON LAND 113

from. But we were obliged to fire at them during flight,
which gave us few chances to bring them down; and in¬
deed, we vainly exhausted one half of our ammunition.

About eleven o’clock in the morning, the first range of
mountains that form the centre of the island was traversed,
and we had killed nothing. Hunger drove us on. The hunt¬
ers had relied on the products of the chase, and they were
wrong. Happily Conseil, to his great surprise, made a double
shot and secured breakfast. He brought down a white
pigeon and a wood-pigeon, which, cleverly plucked and sus¬
pended from a skewer, was roasted before a red fire of dead
wood. Whilst these interesting birds were cooking, Ned pre¬
pared the fruit of the artocarpus. Then the wood-pigeons
were devoured to the bones, and declared excellent. The
nutmeg, with which they were in the habit of stuffing their
crops, flavours their flesh and renders it delicious eating.

“Now, Ned, what do you miss now?”

“Some four-footed game, M.' Aronnax. All these pigeons
are only side-dishes, and trifles; and until I have killed an
animal with cutlets, I shall not be content.”

“Nor I, Ned, if I do not catch a bird of paradise.”

“Let us continue hunting,” replied Conseil. “Let us go to¬
wards the sea. We have arrived at the first declivities of the
mountains, and I think we had better regain the region of
forests.”

That was sensible advice, and was followed out. After
walking for one hour, we had attained a -forest of sago-
trees. Some inoffensive serpents glided away from us. The
buds of paradise fled at our approach, and truly I despaired
of getting near one, when Conseil, who was walking in
front, suddenly bent down, uttered a triumphal cry, and
came back to me bringing a magnificent specimen.

“Ah! bravo, Conseil!”

“Master is very good.”

“No, my boy; you have made an excellent stroke. Take
one of these living birds, and carry it in your hand.”

“If master will examine it, he will see that I have not de¬
served great merit.”

“Why, Conseil?”

“Because this bird is as drunk as a quail.”

“Drunk!”

“Yes, sir; drunk with the nutmegs that it devoured under

114 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

the nutmeg-tree, under which I found it. See, friend Npd,

see the awful effects of intemperance 1”

“By Jove!” exclaimed the Canadian, “because I have
drunk gin for two months, you must needs reproach me!”

However, I examined the curious bird. Conseil was right.
The bird, drunk with the juice, was quite powerless. It
could not fly; it could hardly walk.

This bird belonged to the most beautiful of the eight spe¬
cies that are found in Papua and in the neighbouring islands.
It was the “large emerald bird, the most rare kind.” It meas¬
ured three feet in. length. Its head was comparatively small,
its eyes placed near the opening of the beak, and also small.
But the shades of colour were beautiful, having a yellow
beak, brown feet and claws, nut-coloured wings with purple
tips, pale yellow at the back of the neck and head, and em¬
erald colour at the throat, chestnut on the breast and belly.
Two homed downy nets rose from below the tail, that pro¬
longed the long feathers of admirable fineness, and they
completed the whole of this marvellous bird, that the na¬
tives have poetically named the “bird of the sun.”

But if my wishes were satisfied by the possession of the
bird of paradise, the Canadian’s were not yet. Happily
about two o’clock Ned Land brought down a magnificent hog,
from the brood of those the natives call “bari-outang.”
The animal came in time for us to procure real quadruped
meat, and he was well received. Ned Land was very proud
of his shot. The hog, hit by the electric ball, fell stone dead.
The Canadian skinned and cleaned it properly, after having
taken half-a-dozen cutlets, destined to furnish us with a
grilled repast in the evening. Then the hunt was resumed,
which was still more marked by Ned and Conseil’s exploits.

Indeed, the two friends, beating the bushes, roused a
herd of kangaroos, that fled and bounded along on their
elastic paws. But these animals did not take flight so rap¬
idly but what the electric capsule could stop their course.

“Ah, Professor!” cried Ned Land, who was carried away
by the delights of the chase, “what excellent game, and
stewed too! What a supply for the Nautilus 1 two! three 1
five down! And to think that we shall eat that flesh, and
that the idiots on board shall not have a crumb! ”

I think that, in the excess of his joy, the Canadian, if he
had not talked so much, would have killed them all. But he

CAPTAIN NEMO’S THUNDERBOLT 115

contented himself with a single dozen of these interesting
marsupians. These animals were small. They were species of
those “kangaroo rabbits” that live habitually in the hollows
of trees, and whose speed is extreme; but they are moder¬
ately fat, and furnish, at least, estimable food. We were very
satisfied with the results of the hunt. Happily Ned pro¬
posed to return to this enchanting island the next day, for
he wished to depopulate it of all the eatable quadrupeds.
But he reckoned without his host.

At six o’clock in the evening we had regained the shore,
our boat was moored to the usual place. The Nautilus, like a
long rock, emerged from the waves two miles from the beach.
Ned Land, -without waiting, occupied himself .about the
important dinner business. He understood all about cooking
well. The “bari-outang,” grilled on the coals, soon scented
the air with a delicious odour.

Indeed, the dinner was excellent. Two wood-pigeons com¬
pleted this extraordinary menu. The sago pasty, the artocar-
pus bread, some mangoes, half-a-dozen pine-apples, and the
liquor fermented from some cocoa-nuts, overjoyed us.
I even think that my worthy companion’s idea had not all
the plainness desirable.

“Suppose we do not return to the Nautilus this eve¬
ning?” said ConseiL

“Suppose we never return?” added Ned Land.

Just then a stone fell at our feet, and cut short the har-
pooner’s proposition.

21. Captain Nemo’s Thunderbolt

We looked at the edge of the forest without rising, my hand
stopping in the action of putting it to my mouth, Ned Land’s
completing its office.

“Stones do not fall from the sky,” remarked Conseil,
“or they would merit the name of aerolites.”

A second stone, carefully aimed, that made a savoury
pigeon’s leg fall from Conseil’s hand, gave still more
weight to his observation. We all three arose, shouldered
our guns, and were ready to reply to any attack.

“Are they apes?” cried Ned Land.

“Very nearly — they are savages.”

“To the boat I ” I said, hurrying to the sea.

116

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

It was indeed necessary to beat a retreat, for abut twenty
natives armed with bows and slings, appeared on the skirts
of a copse that masked the horizon to the right, hardly a
hundred steps from us.

Our boat was moored about sixty feet from us. The sav¬
ages approached us, not running, but making hostile demon¬
strations. Stones and arrows fell thickly.

Ned Land had not wished to leave his provisions; and,
in spite of his imminent danger, his pig on one side, and
kangaroos on the other, he went tolerably fast. In two min¬
utes we were on the shore. To load the boat with provisions
and arms, to push it out to sea, and ship the oars, was the
work of an instant. We had not gone two cable lengths, when
a hundred savages, howling and gesticulating, entered the
water up to their waists. I watched to see if their apparition
would attract some men from the Nautilus on to the plat¬
form. But no. The enormous machine, lying off, was abso¬
lutely deserted.

Twenty minutes later we were on board. The panels were
open. After making the boat fast, we entered into the interior
of the Nautilus.

I descended to the drawing-room, from whence I heard
some chords. Captain Nemo was there, bending over his
organ, and plunged in a musical ecstasy.

“Captain! ”

He did not hear me.

“Captain! ” I said again, touching his hand.

He shuddered, and turning round, said, “Ah! it is you,
Professor? Well, have you had a good hunt, have you bot-
anised successfully?”

“Yes, Captain; but we have unfortunately brought a
troop of bipeds, whose vicinity troubles me.”

“What bipeds?”

“Savages.”

“Savages!” he echoed, ironically. “So you are astonished,
Professor, at having set foot on a strange land and finding
savages? Savages! where are there not any? Besides, are
they worse than others, these whom you call savages?”

“But Captain - ”

“How many have you counted?”

“A hundred at least.”

“M. Aronnax,” replied Captain Nemo, placing his fingers

CAPTAIN NEMO’S THUNDERBOLT 117

on the organ stops, “when all the natives of Papua are as¬
sembled on this shore, the Nautilus will have nothing to fear
from their attacks.”

The Captain’s fingers were then running over the keys of
the instrument, and I remarked that he touched only the
black keys, which gave to his melodies an essentially Scotch
character. Soon he had forgotten my presence, and had
plunged into a reverie that I did not disturb. I went up again
on to the platform: — night had already fallen; for, in this
low latitude, the sun sets rapidly and without twilight.
I could only see the island indistinctly; but the numerous
fires, lighted on the beach, showed that the natives did not
think of leaving it. I was alone for several hours, sometimes
thinking of the natives, — but without any dread of them,
for the imperturbable confidence of the Captain was catch¬
ing, — sometimes forgetting them to admire the splendours
of the night in the tropics. My remembrances went to
France, in the train of those zodiacal stars that would shine
in some hours’ time. The moon shone in the midst of the con¬
stellations of the zenith.

The night slipped away without any mischance, the is¬
landers frightened no doubt at the sight of a monster
aground in the bay. The panels were open, and would have
offered an easy access to the interior of the Nautilus.

At six o’clock in the morning of the 8th of January, I went
up on to the platform. The dawn was breaking. The island
soon showed itself through the dissipating fogs, first the
shore, then the summits.

The natives were there, more numerous than on the day
before — 500 or 600 perhaps — some of them profiting by
the low water, had come on to the coral, at less than two
cable lengths from the Nautilus. I distinguished them easily;
they were true Papuans, with athletic figures, men of good
race, large high foreheads, large, but not broad and flat,
and white teeth. Their woolly hair, with a reddish tinge,
showed off on their black shining bodies like those of the
Nubians. From the lobes of their ears, cut and distended,
hung chaplets of bones. Most of these savages were naked.
Amongst them, I remarked some women, dressed from the
hips to knees in quite a crinoline of herbs, that sustained a
vegetable waistband. Some chiefs had ornamented their
necks with a crescent and collars of glass beads, red and

118 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

white; nearly all were armed with bows, arrows, and
shields, and carried 'on their shoulders a sort of net contain¬
ing those round stones which they cast from their slings
with great skill. One of these chiefs, rather near to the Nau¬
tilus, examined it attentively. He was, perhaps, a “mado”
of high rank, for he was draped in a mat of banana leaves,
notched round the edges, and set off with brilliant colours.

I could easily have knocked down this native, who was
within a short length; but I thought that it was better to
wait for real hostile demonstrations. Between Europeans and
savages, it is proper for the Europeans to parry sharply, not
to attack.

During low water the natives roamed about near the Nau¬
tilus, but were not troublesome; I heard them frequently
repeat the word “Assai,” and by their gestures I understood
that they invited me to go on land, an invitation that I de¬
clined.

So that, on that day, the boat did not push off, to the
great displeasure of Master Land, who could not complete
his provisions.

This adroit Canadian employed his time in preparing
the viands and meat that he had brought off the island. As
for the savages, they returned to the shore about eleven
o’clock in the morning, as soon as the coral tops began to
disappear under the rising tide; but I saw their numbers
had increased considerably on the shore. Probably they came
from the neighbouring islands, or very likely from Papua.
However, I had not seen a single native canoe. Having noth¬
ing better to do, I thought of dragging these beautiful limpid
waters, under which I saw a profusion of shells, zoophytes,
and marine plants* Moreover, it was the last day that the
Nautilus would pass in these parts, if it floated in open
sea the next day, according to Captain Nemo’s promise.

I therefore called Conseil, who brought me a little light
drag, very like those for the oyster fishery. Now to work!
For two hours we fished unceasingly, but without bringing
up any rarities. The drag was filled with midas-ears, harps,
melames, and particularly the most beautiful hammers
I have ever seen. We also brought up some holothurias,
pearl-oysters, and a dozen little turtles, that were reserved
for the pantry on board.

But just when I expected it least, I put my hand on a

CAPTAIN NEMO’S THUNDERBOLT 119

wonder, I might say a natural deformity, very rarely met
with. Conseil was just dragging, and his net came up filled
with divers ordinary shells, when, all at once, he saw me
plunge my arm quickly into the net, to draw out a shell,
and heard me utter a conchological cry, that is to say, the
most piercing cry that human throat can utter.

“What is the matter, sir?” he asked, in surprise; “has
master been bitten?”

“No, my boy; but I would willingly have given my fin¬
ger for my discovery.”

“What discovery?”

“This shell,” I said, holding up the object of my triumph.

“It is simply an olive porphyry, genus olive, order of the
pectinibranchidae, class of gasteropods, sub-class mollusca

“Yes, Conseil; but instead of being rolled from right to
left, this olive turns from left to right.”

“Is it possible?”

“Yes, my boy; it is a left shell.”

Shells are all right-handed with rare exceptions; and,
when by chance their spiral is left, amateurs are ready to
pay their weight in gold.

Conseil and I were absorbed in the contemplation of our
treasure, and I was promising myself to enrich the museum
with it, when a stone unfortunately thrown by a native,
struck against, and broke the precious object in Conseil’s
hand. I uttered a cry of despair! Conseil took up his gun,
and aimed at a savage who was poising his sling at ten yards
from him. I would have stopped him, but his blow took ef¬
fect, and broke the bracelet of amulets which encircled the
arm of the savage.

“Conseil 1 ” cried I ; “Conseil ! ”

“Well, sirl do you not see that the cannibal has com¬
menced the attack?”

“A shell is not worth the life of a man,” said I.

“Ah! the scoundrel!” cried Conseil; “I would rather he
had broken my shoulder! ”

Conseil was in earnest, but I was not of his opinion. How¬
ever the situation had changed some minutes before, and we
were not perceived. A score of canoes surrounded the Nau¬
tilus. These canoes, scooped out of the trunk of a tree, long,
narrow, well adapted for speed, were balanced by means of
a long bamboo pole, which floated on the water. They were

120 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

managed by skilful half-naked paddlers and I watched their
advance with some uneasiness. It was evident that these
Papuans had already had dealings with the Europeans,
and knew their ships. But this long iron cylinder anchored
in the bay, without masts or chimney, what could they
think of it? Nothing good, for at first they kept at a re¬
spectful distance. However, seeing it motionless, by de¬
grees they took courage, and sought to familiarise them¬
selves with it. Now, this familiarity was precisely what it
was necessary to avoid. Our arms, which were noiseless,
could only produce a moderated effect on the savages, who
have little respect for aught but blustering things. The thun¬
derbolt without the reverberations of thunder would
frighten man but little, though the danger lies in the light¬
ning, not in the noise.

At this moment the canoes approached the Nautilus, and
a shower of arrows alighted on her.

I went down to the saloon, but found no one there. I
ventured to knock at the door that opened intotthe Captain’s
room. “Come in,” was the answer.

I entered, and found Captain Nemo deep in algebraical
calculations of x and other quantities.

“I am disturbing you,” said I, for courtesy sake.

“That is true, M. Aronnax,” replied the Captain; “but I
think you have serious reasons for wishing to see me?”

“Very grave ones; the natives are surrounding us in
their canoes, and in a few minutes we shall certainly be at¬
tacked by many hundreds of savages.”

“Ahl” said Captain Nemo, quietly, “they are come with
their canoes?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, sir, we must close the hatches.”

“Exactly, and I came to say, to you - ”

“Nothing can be more simple,” said Captain Nemo. And
pressing an electric button, he transmitted an order to the
ship’s crew.

“It is all done, sir,” said he, after some moments. “The
pinnace is ready, and the hatches are closed. You do not
fear, I imagine, that these gentlemen could stave in walls on
which the balls of your frigate have had no effect?”

“No, Captain; but a danger still exists.”

“What is that, sir?”

CAPTAIN NEMO’S THUNDERBOLT 121

“It is that tomorrow, at about this hour, we must open
the hatches to renew the air of the Nautilus. Now, if, at
this moment, the Papuans should occupy the platform, I
do not see how you could prevent them from entering.”

“Then, sir, you suppose that they will board us?”

“I am certain of it.”

“Well, sir, let them come. I see no reason, for hindering
them. After all, these Papuans are poor creatures, and I am
unwilling that my visit to the Island of Gueberoan should
cost the life of a single one of these wretches.”

Upon that I was going away; but Captain Nemo detained
me, and asked me to sit down by him. He questioned me
with interest about our excursions on shore, and our hunt¬
ing; and seemed not to understand the craving for meat
that possessed the Canadian. Then the conversation turned
on various subjects, and without being more communicative,
Captain Nemo showed himself more amiable.

Amongst other things, we happened to speak of the situa¬
tion of the Nautilus, run aground in exactly the same spot
in this strait where Dumont d’Urville was nearly lost. Apro¬
pos of this —

“This D’Urville was one of your great sailors,” said the
Captain to me, “one of your most intelligent navigators.
He is the Captain Cook of you Frenchmen. Unfortunate
man of science, after having braved the icebergs of the
south pole, the coral reefs of Oceania, the cannibals of the
Pacific, to perish miserably in a railway train! If this en¬
ergetic man could have reflected during the last moments of
his life, what must have been uppermost in his last thoughts,
do you suppose?”

So speaking Captain Nemo seemed moved, and his emo¬
tion gave me a better opinion of him. Then, chart in hand,
we reviewed the travels of the French navigator, his voyage
of circumnavigation, his double detention at the south
pole, which led to the discovery of Adelaide and Louis Phi¬
lippe, and fixing the hydrographical bearings of the princi¬
pal islands of Oceania.

“That which your D’Urville has done on the surface of
the seas,” said Captain Nemo, “that have I done under
them, and more easily, more completely than he. The As¬
trolabe and the Zelia, incessantly tossed about by the
hurricanes, could not be worth the Nautilus, quiet repository

122 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

of labour that she is, truly motionless in the midst of the

waters.

“Tomorrow,” added the Captain, rising, “tomorrow, at
twenty minutes to three P.M., the Nautilus shall float, and
leave the Straits of Torres uninjured.”

Having curtly pronounced these words, Captain Nemo
bowed slightly. This was to dismiss me, and I went back to
my room.

There I found Conseil, who wished to know the result of
my interview with the Captain.

“My boy,” said I, “when I feigned to believe that his Nau¬
tilus was threatened by the natives of Papua, the Captain
answered me very sarcastically. I have but one thing to say
to you: Have confidence in him, and go to sleep in peace.”

“Have you no need of my services, sir?”

“No, my friend. What is Ned Land doing?”

“If you will excuse me, sir,” answered Conseil, “friend
Ned is busy making a kangaroo-pie, which will be a mar¬
vel.”

I remained alone, and went to bed, but slept indifferently.
I heard the noise of the savages, who stamped on the plat¬
form uttering deafening cries. The night passed thus, with¬
out disturbing the ordinary repose of the crew. The pres¬
ence of these cannibals affected them no more than the sol¬
diers of a masked battery care for the ants that crawl over
its front.

At six in the morning I rose. The hatches had not been
opened. The inner air was not renewed, but the reservoirs,
filled ready for any emergency, were now resorted to, and
discharged several cubic feet of oxygen into the exhausted
atmosphere of the Nautilus.

I worked in my room till noon, without having seen Cap¬
tain Nemo, even for an instant. On board no preparations
for departure were visible.

I waited still some time, then went into the large saloon.
The clock marked half-past two. In ten minutes it would
be high-tide; and, if Captain Nemo had not made a rash
promise, the Nautilus would be immediately detached. If
not, many months would pass ere she could leave her bed of
coral.

However, some warning vibrations began to be felt in
the vessel. I heard the keel grating against the rough cal-

123

CAPTAIN NEMO’S THUNDERBOLT
careous bottom of the coral reef.

At five-and-twenty minutes to three, Captain Nemo ap¬
peared in the saloon.

“We are going to start,” said he.

“Ah!” replied I. '

“I have given the order to open the hatches.”

“And the Papuans?”

“The Papuans?” answered Captain Nemo, slightly shrug¬
ging his shoulders.

“Will they not come inside the Nautilus ?”

“How?”

“Only by leaping over the hatches you have opened.”

“M. Aronnax,” quietly answered Captain Nemo, “they
will not enter the hatches of the Nautilus in that way, even
if they were open.”

I looked at the Captain.

“You do not understand?” said he.

“Hardly.”

“Well, come and you will see.”

I directed my steps toward the central staircase. There
Ned Land and Conseil were slyly watching some of the
ship’s crew, who were opening the hatches, while cries of
rage and fearful vociferations resounded outside.

The port lids were pulled down outside. Twenty horrible
faces appeared. But the first native who placed his hand on
the stairrail, struck from behind by some invisible force, I
know not what, fled, uttering the most fearful cries, and
making the wildest contortions.

Ten of his companions followed him. They met with the
same fate.

Conseil was in ecstasy. Ned Land, carried away by his
violent instincts, rushed on to the staircase. But the mo¬
ment he seized the rail with both hands, he, in his turn,
was overthrown.

“I am struck by a thunderbolt,” cried he, with an oath.

This explained all. It was no rail, but a metallic cable,
charged with electricity from the deck, communicating with
the platform. Whoever touched it felt a powerful shock —
and this shock would have been mortal, if Captain Nemo
had discharged into the conductor the whole force of the
current. It might truly be said that between his assailants
and himself he had stretched a network of electricity which

124 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

none could pass with impunity.

Meanwhile, the exasperated Papuans had beaten a re¬
treat, paralysed with terror. As for us, half laughing, we
consoled and rubbed the unfortunate Ned Land, who swore
like one possessed.

But, at this moment, the Nautilus, raised by the last
waves of the tide, quitted her coral bed exactly at the for¬
tieth minute fixed by the Captain. Her screw swept the
waters slowly and majestically. Her speed increased gradu¬
ally, and sailing on the surface of the ocean, she quitted
safe and sound the dangerous passes of the Straits of Torres.

22. “iEgri Somnia”

The following day, 10th January, the Nautilus continued
her course between two seas, but with such remarkable
speed that I could not estimate it at less than thirty-five
miles an hour. The rapidity of her screw was such that I
could neither follow nor count its revolutions. When I re¬
flected that this marvellous electric agent, after having
afforded motion, heat, and light to the Nautilus, still pro¬
tected her from outward attack, and transformed her into
an ark of safety, which no profane hand might touch with¬
out being thunderstricken, my admiration was unbounded,
and from the structure it extended to the engineer who had
called it into existence.

Our course was directed to the west, and on 11th January
we doubled Cape Wessel, situated in 135° longitude, and
10° north latitude, which forms the east point of the Gulf
of Carpentaria. The reefs were still numerous, but more
equalised, and marked on the chart with extreme precision.
The Nautilus easily avoided the breakers of Money to port,
and the Victoria reefs to starboard, placed at 130° longitude,
and on the tenth parallel we strictly followed.

On the 13th January, Captain Nemo arrived in the Sea
of Timor and recognised the island of that name in 122°
longitude.

From this point, the direction of the Nautilus inclined
towards the south-west. Her head was set for the Indian
Ocean. Where would the fancy of Captain Nemo carry us
next? Would he return to the coast of Asia? or would he ap¬
proach again the shores of Europe? Improbable conjectures

125

“.egri somnia”
both, for a man who fled from inhabited continents. Then,
would he descend to the south? Was he going to double the
Cape of Good Hope, then Cape Horn, and finally go as far
as the antarctic pole? Would he come back at last to the
Pacific, where his Nautilus could sail free and independ¬
ently? Time would show.

After having skirted the sands of Cartier, of Hibernia,
Seringapatam, and Scott, last efforts of the solid against the
liquid element, on the 14th January we lost sight of land
altogether. The speed of the Nautilus was considerably
abated, and, with irregular course, she sometimes swam in
the bosom of the waters, sometimes floated on their sur¬
face.

During this period of the voyage, Captain Nemo made
some interesting experiments on the varied temperature of
the sea, in different beds. Under ordinary conditions, these
observations are made by means of rather complicated in¬
struments, and with somewhat doubtful results, by means of
thermometrical sounding-leads, the glasses often breaking
under the pressure of the water, or an apparatus grounded
on the variations of the resistance of metals to the electric
currents. Results so obtained could not be correctly calcu¬
lated. On the contrary, Captain Nemo went himself to test
the temperature in the depths of the sea, and his thermom¬
eter, placed in communication with the different sheets of
water, gave him the required degree immediately and ac¬
curately.

It was thus that, either by overloading her reservoirs,
or by descending obliquely by means of her inclined planes,
the Nautilus successively attained the depth of three, four,
five, seven, nine, and ten thousand yards, and the definite
result of this experience was, that the sea preserved an
average temperature of four degrees and a half, at a depth
of five thousand fathoms, under all latitudes.

On the 16th January, the Nautilus seemed becalmed,
only a few yards beneath the surface of the waves. Her elec¬
tric apparatus remained inactive, and her motionless screw
left her to drift at the mercy of the currents. I supposed that
the crew was occupied with interior repairs, rendered neces¬
sary by the violence of the mechanical movements of the
machine.

My companions and I then witnessed a curious spectacle.

126 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

The hatches of the saloon were open, and as the beacon-light
of the Nautilus was not in action, a dim obscurity reigned
in the midst of the waters. I observed the state of the sea
under these conditions, and the largest fish appeared to
me no more than scarcely defined shadows, when the Nau¬
tilus found herself suddenly transported into full light. I
thought at first that the beacon had been lighted, and was
casting its electric radiance into the liquid mass. I was mis¬
taken, and after a rapid survey, perceived my error.

The Nautilus floated in the midst of a phosphorescent
bed, which, in this obscurity, became quite dazzling. It was
produced by myriads of luminous animalculae, whose bril¬
liancy was increased as they glided over the metallic hull
of the vessel. I was surprised by lightning in the midst of
these luminous sheets, as though they had been rivulets of
lead melted in an ardent furnace, or metallic masses brought
to a white heat, so that, by force of contrast, certain portions
of light appeared to cast a shade in the midst of the general
ignition, from which, all shade seemed banished. No; this
was not the calm irradiation of our ordinary lightning.
There was unusual life and vigour; this was truly living
light I

In reality, it was an infinite agglomeration of coloured
infusoria, of veritable globules of diaphanous jelly, provided
with a thread-like tentacle, and of which as many as twenty-
five thousand have been counted in less than two cubic
half-inches of water; and their light was increased by the
glimmering peculiar to the medusae, starfish, aurelia, and
other phosphorescent zoophytes, impregnated by the grease
of the organic matter decomposed by the sea, and, perhaps,
the mucus secreted by the fish.

During several hours the Nautilus floated in these bril¬
liant waves, and our admiration increased as we watched the
marine monsters disporting themselves like salamanders. I
saw there, in the midst of this fire that burns not, the swift
and elegant porpoise (the indefatigable clown of the ocean),
and some swordfish, ten feet long, those prophetic heralds
of the hurricane, whose formidable sword would now and
then strike the glass of the saloon. Then appeared the
smaller fish, the variegated balista, the leaping mackerel,
wolf-thorntails, and a hundred others which striped the
luminous atihosphere as they swam. This dazzling spectacle

“/EGRI somnia” 127

was enchanting! Perhaps some atmospheric condition in¬
creased the intensity of this phenomenon. Perhaps some
storm agitated the surface of the waves. But, at this depth
of some yards, the Nautilus was unmoved by its fury, and
reposed peacefully in still water.

So we progressed, incessantly charmed by some new mar¬
vel. Conseil arranged and classed his zoophytes, his articu-
lata, his molluscs, his fishes. The days passed rapidly away,
and I took no account of them. Ned, according to habit,
tried to vary the diet on board. Like snails, we were fixed
to our shells, and I declare it is easy to lead a snail’s life.

Thus, this life seemed easy and natural, and we thought
no longer of the life we led on land; but something hap¬
pened to recall us to the strangeness of our situation.

On the 18th of January, the Nautilus was in 105° longi-
tude and 15° south latitude. The weather was threatening,
the sea rough and rolling. There was a strong east wind. The
barometer, which had been going down for some days, fore¬
boded a coming storm. I went up on to the platform just as
the second lieutenant was taking the measure of the horary
angles, and waited, according to habit, till the daily phrase
was said. But, on this day, it was exchanged for another
phrase not less incomprehensible. Almost directly, I saw
Captain Nemo appear, with a glass, looking towards the
horizon.

For some minutes he was immovable, without taking his
eye off the point of observation. Then he lowered his glass,
and exchanged a few words with his lieutenant. The latter
seemed to be a victim to some emotion that he tried in vain
to repress. Captain Nemo, having more command over him¬
self, was cool. He seemed, too, to be making some objec¬
tions, to which the lieutenant replied by formal assurances.
At least I concluded so by the difference of their tones and
gestures. For myself I had looked carefully in the direction
indicated without seeing anything. The sky and water were
lost in the clear line of the horizon.

However, Captain Nemo walked from one end of the plat¬
form to the other, without looking at me, perhaps without
seeing me. His step was firm, but less regular than usual. He
stopped sometimes, crossed his arms, and observed the sea.
What could he be looking for on that immense expanse?

128 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

The Nautilus was then some hundreds of miles from the
nearest coast.

The lieutenant had taken up the glass, and examined the
horizon steadfastly, going and coming, stamping his foot
and showing more nervous agitation than his superior offi¬
cer. Besides, this mystery must necessarily be solved, and
before long; for, upon an order from Captain Nemo, the en¬
gine increasing its propelling power, made the screw turn
more rapidly.

Just then, the lieutenant drew the Captain’s attention
again. The latter stopped walking and directed his glass to¬
wards the place indicated. He looked long. I felt very much
puzzled, and descended to the drawing-room, and took out
an excellent telescope that I generally used. Then leaning
on the edge of the watch-light, that jutted out from the front
of the platform, set myself to look over all the line of the sky
and sea.

But my eye was no sooner applied to the glass, than it
was quickly snatched out of my hands.

I turned round. Captain Nemo was before me, but I did
not know him. His face was transfigured. His eyes flashed
sullenly; his teeth were set; his stiff body, clenched fists,
and head shrunk between Ids shoulders, betrayed the vio¬
lent agitation that pervaded his whole frame. He did not
move. My glass, fallen from his hands, had rolled at his
feet.

Had I unwittingly provoked this fit of anger? Did this in¬
comprehensible person imagine that I had discovered some
forbidden secret? No; I was not the object of his hatred, for
he was not looking at me, his eye was steadily fixed upon
the impenetrable point of the horizon. At last Captain Nemo
recovered himself. His agitation subsided. He addressed
some words in a foreign language to his lieutenant, then
turned to me. “M. Aronnax,” he said, in rather an imperi¬
ous tone, “I require you to keep one of the conditions that
bind you to me.”

“What is it, Captain?”

“You must be confined, with your companions, until I
think fit to release you.”

“You are the master,” I replied, looking steadily at him.
“But may I ask you one question?”

“None, sir.”

c.*gri somnia’

129

There was no resisting this imperious command, it would
have been useless. I went down to the cabin occupied by Ned
Land and Conseil, and told them the Captain’s determina¬
tion. You may judge how this communication was received
by the Canadian.

But there was no time for altercation. Four of the crew
waited at the door, and conducted us to that cell where we
had passed our first night on board the Nautilus.

Ned Land would have remonstrated, but the door was shut
upon him.

“Will master tell me what this means?” asked Conseil.

I told my companions what had passed. They were as
much astonished as I, and equally at a loss how to account
for it.

Meanwhile, I was absorbed in my own reflections, and
could think of nothing but the strange fear depicted in the
Captain’s countenance. I was utterly at a loss to account for
it, when my cogitations were disturbed by these words from
Ned Land —

“Hallo! breakfast is ready.”

And indeed the table was laid. Evidently Captain Nemo
had given this order at the same time that he had hastened
the speed of the Nautilus.

“Will master permit me to make a recommendation?”
asked Conseil.

“Yes, my boy.”

“Well, it is that master breakfasts'. It is prudent, for we
do not know what may happen.”

“You are right, Conseil.”

“Unfortunately,” said Ned Land, “they have only given
us the ship’s fare.” .

“Friend Ned,” asked Conseil, “what would you have
said if the breakfast had been entirely forgotten?”

This argument cut short the harpooner’s recriminations.

We sat down to table. The meal was eaten in silence.

Just then, the luminous globe that lighted the cell went
out, and left us in total darkness. Ned Land was soon
asleep, and what astonished me was that Conseil went off
into a heavy sleep. I was thinking what could have caused
his irresistible drowsiness, when I felt my brain becoming
stupefied. In spite of my efforts to keep my eyes open,
they would close. A painful suspicion seized me. Evidently

130 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

soporific substances had been mixed with the food we had
just taken. Imprisonment was not enough to conceal Cap¬
tain Nemo’s projects from us, sleep was more necessary.

I then heard the panels shut. The undulations of the sea,
which caused a slight rolling motion, ceased. Had the Nau¬
tilus quitted the surface of the ocean? Had it gone back to
Ihe motionless bed of water? I tried to resist sleep. It was
impossible. My breathing grew weak. I felt a mortal cold
freeze my stiffened and half-paralysed limbs. My eyelids,
like leaden caps, fell over my eyes. I could not raise them;
a morbid sleep, full of hallucinations, bereft me of my be¬
ing. Then the visions disappeared, and left me in complete
insensibility.

23. The Coral Kingdom

The next day I woke with my head singularly clear. To
my great surprise I was in my own room. My companions,
no doubt, had been reinstated in their cabin, without hav¬
ing perceived it any more than I. Of what had passed dur¬
ing the night they were as ignorant as I was, and to pene¬
trate this mystery I only reckoned upon the chances of the
future.

I then thought of quitting my room. Was I free again or
a prisoner? Quite free. I opened the door, went to the half¬
deck, went up the central stairs. The panels, shut the eve¬
ning before, were open. I went on to the platform.

Ned Land and Conseil waited there for me. I questioned
them; they knew nothing. Lost in a heavy sleep in which
they had been totally unconscious, they had been aston¬
ished at finding themselves in their cabin.

As for the Nautilus, it seemed quiet and mysterious as
ever. It floated on the surface of the waves at a moderate
pace. Nothing seemed changed on board.

The second lieutenant then came on to the platform and
gave the usual order below.

As for Captain Nemo, he did not appear.

Of the people on board, I only saw the impassive stew¬
ard, who served me with his usual dumb regularity.

About two o’clock, I was in the drawing-room, busied in
arranging my notes, when the Captain opened the door and
appeared. I bowed. He made a slight inclination in return,

THE CORAL KINGDOM

131

without speaking. I resumed my work, hoping that he would
perhaps give me some explanation of the events of the pre¬
ceding night. He made none. I looked at him. He seemed
fatigued; his heavy eyes had not been refreshed by sleep;
his face looked very sorrowful. He walked to and fro, sat
down and got up again, took up a chance book, put it down,
consulted his instruments without taking his habitual notes,
and seemed restless and uneasy. At last, he came up to me,
and said —

“Are you a doctor, M. Aronnax?”

I so little expected such a question, that I stared some
time at him without answering.

“Are you a doctor?” he repeated. “Several of your col¬
leagues have studied medicine.”

“Well,” said I, “I am a doctor and resident surgeon to
the hospital. I practised several years before entering the
museum.”

“Very well, sir.”

My answer had evidently satisfied the Captain. But not
knowing what he would say next, I waited for other ques¬
tions, reserving my answers according to circumstances.

“M. Aronnax, will you consent to prescribe for one of
my men?” he asked.

“Is he ill?”

“Yes.”

“I am ready to follow you.”

“Come, then.”

' I own my heart beat, I do not know why. I saw a certain
connection between the illness of one of the crew and the
events of the day before; and this mystery interested me
at least as much as the sick man.

Captain Nemo conducted me to the poop of the Nau¬
tilus, and took me into a cabin situated near the sailors’
quarters.

There, on a bed, lay a man about forty years of age, with
a resolute expression of countenance, a true type of an
Anglo-Saxon.

I leant over him. He was not only ill, he was wounded.
His head, swathed in bandages covered with blood, lay on
a pillow. I undid the bandages, and the wounded man
looked at me with his large eyes and gave no sign of pain
as I did it. It was a horrible wound. The skull, shattered by

132 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

some deadly weapon, left the brain exposed, which was
much injured. Clots of blood had formed in the bruised
and broken mass, in colour like the dregs of wine.

There was both contusion and suffusion of the brain.
His breathing was slow, and some spasmodic movements
of the muscles agitated his face. I felt his pulse. It was in¬
termittent. The extremities of the body were growing cold
already, and I saw death must inevitably ensue. After
dressing the unfortunate man’s wounds, I readjusted the
bandages on his head, and turned to Captain Nemo.

“What caused this wound?” I asked.

“What does it signify?” he replied, evasively. “A shock
has broken one of the levers of the engine. I was struck,
too. But your opinion as to his state?”

I hesitated before giving it.

“You may speak,” said the Captain. “This man does not
understand French.”

I gave a last look at the wounded man.

“He will be dead in two hours.”

“Can nothing save him?”-

“Nothing.”

Captain Nemo’s hand contracted, and some tears glis¬
tened in his eyes, which I thought incapable of shedding
any.

For some moments I still watched the dying man, whose
life ebbed slowly. His pallor increased under the electric
light that was shed over his death-bed. I looked at his in¬
telligent forehead, furrowed with premature wrinkles, pro¬
duced probably by misfortune and sorrow. I tried to learn
the secret of his life from the last words that escaped his
lips.

“You can go now, M. Aronnax,” said the Captain.

I left him in the dying man’s cabin, and returned to my
room much affected by this scene. During the whole day, I
was haunted by uncomfortable suspicions, and at night I
slept badly, and, between my broken dreams, I fancied I
heard distant sighs like the notes of a funeral psalm. Were
they the prayers of the dead, murmured in that language
that I could not understand?

The next morning I went on the bridge. Captain Nemo
was there before me. As soon as he perceived me he came
tome.

THE CORAL KINGDOM 133

“Professor, will it be convenient to you to make a sub¬
marine excursion today?”

“With my companions?” I asked.

“If they like.”

“We obey your orders, Captain.”

“Will you be so good then as to put on your cork-jack¬
ets?”

It was not a question of dead or dying. I rejoined Ned
Land and Conseil, and told them of Captain Nemo’s propo¬
sition. Conseil hastened to accept it, and this time the Ca¬
nadian seemed quite willing to follow our example.

It was eight o’clock in the morning. At half-past eight
we were equipped for this new excursion, and provided with
two contrivances for light and breathing. The double door
was open; and accompanied by Captain Nemo, who was
followed by a dozen of the crew, we set foot, at a depth of
about thirty feet, on the solid bottom on which the Nau¬
tilus rested.

A slight declivity ended in an uneven bottom, at fifteen
fathoms depth. This bottom differed entirely from the one
I had visited on my first exclusion under the waters of the
Pacific Ocean. Here, there was no fine sand, no submarine
prairies, no sea-forest. I immediately recognised that mar¬
vellous region in which, on that day, the Captain did the
honours to us. It was the coral kingdom. In the zoophyte
branch and in the alcyon class I noticed the gorgonese,
the isidise, and the corollarke.

The light produced a thousand charming varieties, play¬
ing in the midst of the branches that were so vividly col¬
oured. I seemed to see the membranous and cylindrical
tubes tremble beneath the undulation of the waters. I was
tempted to gather their fresh petals, ornamented with deli¬
cate tentacules, some just blown, the others budding, while
small fish, swimming swiftly, touched them slightly, like
flights of birds. But if my hand approached these living
flowers, these animated sensitive plants, the whole colony
took alarm. The white petals reentered their red cases, the
flowers faded as I looked, and the bush changed into a block
of stony knobs.

Chance had thrown me just by the most precious speci¬
mens of this zoophyte. This coral was more valuable than
that found in the Mediterranean, on the coasts of France,

134 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

Italy, and Barbary. Its tints justified the poetical names of
“Flower of Blood,” and “Froth of Blood,” that trade has
given to its most beautiful productions. Coral is sold for
£20 per ounce; and in this place, the watery beds would
make the fortunes of a company of coral-divers. This pre¬
cious matter, often confused with other polypi, formed then
the inextricable plots called “macciota,” and on which I
noticed several beautiful specimens of pink coral.

But soon the bushes contract, and the arborisations in¬
crease. Real petrified thickets, long joists of fantastic archi¬
tecture, were disclosed before us. Captain Nemo placed
himself under a dark gallery, where by a slight declivity
we reached a depth of 100 yards. The light from our lamps
produced sometimes magical effects, following the rough
outlines of the natural arches, and pendants disposed like
lustres, that were tipped with points of fire. Between the
coralline shrubs I noticed other polypi not less curious,
melites, and irises with articulated ramifications, also some
tufts of coral, some green, others red, like seaweed en¬
crusted in their calcareous salts, that naturalists, after long
discussion, have definitely classed in the vegetable king¬
dom. But following the remarks of a thinking man, “there
is perhaps the real point where life rises obscurely from
the sleep of a stone, without detaching itself from the rough
point of departure.”

At last, after walking two hours, we had attained a depth
of about 300 yards, that is to say, the extreme limit on
which coral begins to form. But there was no isolated bush,
nor modest brushwood, at the bottom of lofty trees. It was
an immense forest of large mineral vegetations, enormous
petrified trees, united by garlands of elegant plumarias,
sea-bindweed, all adorned with clouds and reflections. We
passed freely under their high branches, lost in the shade
of the waves, while at our feet, tubipores, mandrines, stars,
fungi, and caryophyllidae formed a carpet of flowers sown
with dazzling gems. What an indescribable spectacle I

Captain Nemo had stopped. I and my companions halted,
and turning round, I saw his men were forming a semicircle
round their chief. Watching attentively, I observed that
four of them carried on their shoulders an object of an
oblong shape.

We occupied, in this place, the centre of a vast glade

THE CORAL KINGDOM 13S

surrounded by the lofty foliage of the submarine forest. Our
lamps threw over this place a sort of clear twilight that sin¬
gularly elongated the shadows on the ground. At the end
of the glade the darkness increased, and was only relieved
by little sparks reflected by the points of coral

Ned Land and Conseil were near me. We watched, and I
thought I was going to witness a strange scene. On observ¬
ing the ground, I saw that it was raised in certain places
by slight excrescences encrusted with limy deposits, and
disposed with a regularity that betrayed the hand of man.

In the midst of the glade, on a pedestal of rocks roughly
piled up, stood a cross of coral, that extended its long arms
that one might have thought were made of petrified blood.

Upon a sign from Captain Nemo, one of the men ad¬
vanced; and at some feet from the cross, he began to dig a
hole with a pickaxe that he took from his belt. I under¬
stood all! This glade was a cemetery, this hole a tomb, this
oblong object the body of the man who had died in the
night! The Captain and his men had come to bury their
companion in this general resting-place, at the bottom of
this inaccessible ocean!

The grave was being dug slowly; the fish fled on all
sides while their retreat was being thus disturbed; I heard
the strokes of the pickaxe, which sparkled when it hit upon
some flint lost at the bottom of the waters. The hole was
soon large and deep enough to receive the body. Then the
bearers approached; the body, enveloped in a tissue of
white byssus, was lowered into the damp grave. Captain
Nemo, with his arms crossed on his breast, and all the
friends of him who had loved them, knelt in prayer.

The grave was then filled in with the rubbish taken from
the ground, which formed a slight mound. When this was
done, Captain Nemo and his men rose; then, approaching
the grave, they knelt again, and all extended their hands in
a sign of a last adieu. Then the funeral procession returned
to the Nautilus, passing under the arches of the forest, in
the midst of thickets, along the coral bushes, and still on
the ascent. At last the fires on board appeared, and their
luminous track guided us to the Nautilus. At one o’clock
we had returned.

As soon as I had changed my clothes, I went up on to
the platform, and, a prey to conflicting emotions, I sat

136 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

down near the binnacle. Captain Nemo joined me. I rose

and said to him —

“So, as I said he would, this man died in the night?’*

“Yes, M. Aronnax.”

“And he rests now, near his companions, in the coral
cemetery?”

“Yes, forgotten by all else, but not by us. We dug the
grave, and the polypi undertake to seal our dead for eter¬
nity.” And burying his face quickly in his hands, he tried
in vain to suppress a sob. Then he added — “Our peace¬
ful cemetery is there, some hundred feet below the surface
of the waves.”

“Your dead sleep quietly, at least, Captain, out of the
reach of sharks.”

“Yes, sir, of sharks and men,” gravely replied the Cap¬
tain.

PART TWO

1. The Indian Ocean

We now come to the second part of our journey under the
sea. The first ended with the moving scene in the coral
cemetery, which left such a deep impression on my mind.
Thus, in the midst of this great sea, Captain' Nemo’s life
was passing even to his grave, which he had prepared in
one of its deepest abysses. There, not one of the ocean’s
monsters could trouble the last sleep of the crew of the
Nautilus, of those friends riveted to each other in death as
in life. “Nor any man either,” had added the Captain. Still
the same fierce, implacable defiance towards human so¬
ciety I

I could no longer content myself with the hypothesis
which satisfied Conseil.

That worthy fellow persisted in seeing in the commander
of the Nautilus one of those unknown savants who return
mankind contempt for indifference. For him, he was a mis¬
understood genius, who, tired of earth’s deceptions, had
taken refuge in this inaccessible medium, where he might
folfow his instincts freely. To my mind, this hypothesis ex¬
plained but one side of Captain Nemo’s character.

Indeed, the mystery of that last night, during which we
had been chained in prison, the Sleep, and the precaution
so violently taken by the Captain of snatching from my
eyes the glass I had raised to sweep the horizon, the mortal
wound of the man, due to an unaccountable shock of the
Nautilus, all put me on a new track. No; Captain Nemo
was not satisfied with shunning man. His formidable appa¬
ratus not only suited his instinct of freedom, but, perhaps,
also the design of some terrible retaliation.

At this moment, nothing is clear to me; I catch but a
glimpse of light amidst all the darkness, and I must con¬
fine myself to writing as events shall dictate.

That day, the 24th of January, 1868, at noon, the second
officer came to take the altitude of the sun. I mounted the
platform, lit a cigar, and watched the operation. It seemed
to me that the man did not understand French; for several
times I made remarks in a loud voice, which must have
drawn from him some involuntary sign of attention, if he
137

138 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

had understood them; but he remained undisturbed and

dumb.

As he was taking observations with the sextant, one of
the sailors of the Nautilus (the strong man who had ac¬
companied us on our first submarine excursion to the Is¬
land of Crespo) came to clean the glasses of the lantern. I
examined the fittings of the apparatus, the strength of
which was increased a hundredfold by lenticular rings,
placed similar to those in a lighthouse, and which projected
their brilliance in a horizontal plane. The electric lamp was
combined in such a way as to give its most powerful light.
Indeed, it was produced in vacuo, which insured both its
steadiness and its intensity. This vacuum economised the
graphite points between which the luminous arc was devel¬
oped, — an important point of economy for Captain Nemo,
who could not easily have replaced them; and under these
conditions their waste was imperceptible. When the Nau¬
tilus was ready to continue its submarine journey, I went
down to the saloon. The panels were closed, and the course
marked direct west.

We were furrowing the waters of the Indian Ocean, a
vast liquid plain, with a surface of 1,200,000,000 of acres,
and whose waters are so clear and transparent, that any
one leaning over them would turn giddy. The Nautilus usu¬
ally floated between fifty and a hundred fathoms deep. We
went on so for some days. To any one but myself, who had
a great love for the sea, the hours would have seemed long
and monotonous; but the daily walks on the platform,
when I steeped myself in the reviving air of the ocean, the
sight of the rich waters through the windows of the saloon,
the books in the library, the compiling of my memoirs, took
up all my time, and left me not a moment of ennui or weari¬
ness.

For some days we saw a great number of aquatic birds,
seamews or gulls. Some were cleverly killed, and, prepared
in a certain way, made very acceptable water-game.
Amongst large winged birds, carried a long distance from
all lands, and resting upon the waves from the fatigue of
their flight, I saw some magnificent albatrosses, uttering
discordant cries like the braying of an ass, and birds be¬
longing to the family of the longipennates. The family of
the totipalmates was represented by the sea-swallows,

THE INDIAN OCEAN 139

which caught the fish from the surface, and by numerous
phaetons, or lepturi; amongst others, the phaeton with red
lines, as large as a pigeon, whose white plumage, tinted
with pink, shows off to advantage the blackness of its wings.

As to the fish, they always provoked our admiration
when we surprised the secrets of their aquatic life through
the open panels. I saw many kinds which I never before
had a chance of observing.

I shall notice chiefly ostracions peculiar to the Red Sea,
the Indian Ocean, and that part which washes the coast of
tropical America. These fishes, like the tortoise, the arma¬
dillo, the sea-hedgehog, and the crUstacea, are protected by
a breastplate which is neither chalky nor stony, but real
bone. In some it takes the form of a solid triangle, in others
of a solid quadrangle. Amongst the triangular I saw some
an inch and a half in length, with wholesome flesh and a
delicious flavour; they are brown at the tail, and yellow
at the fins, and I recommend their introduction into fresh
water, to which a certain number of sea-fish easily accus¬
tom themselves. I would also mention quadrangular ostra¬
cions, having on the back four large tubercles; some dotted
over with white spots on the lower part of the body, and
which may be tamed like birds; trigons provided with
spikes formed by the lengthening of their bony shell, and
which, from their strange grantings, are called “seapigs”;
also dromedaries with large humps in the shape of a cone,
whose flesh is very tough and leathery.

I now borrow from the daily notes of Master Conseil.
“Certain fish of the genus petrodon peculiar to those seas,
with red backs and white chests, which are distinguished
by three rows of longitudinal filaments; and some electri¬
cal, seven inches long, decked in the liveliest colours. Then,
as specimens of other kinds, some ovoides, resembling an
egg of a dark brown colour, marked with white bands, and
without tails; diodons, real sea-porcupines, furnished with
spikes, and capable of swelling in such a way as to look
like cushions bristling with darts; hippo-campi, common
to every ocean; some pegasi with lengthened snouts, which
their pectoral fins, being much elongated and formed in the
shape of wings, allow, if not to fly, at least to shoot into the
air; pigeon spatulae, with tails covered with many rings of
shell; macrognathi with long jaws, an excellent fish, nine

140 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

inches long, and bright with most agreeable colours; pale-
coloured calliomores, with rugged heads; and plenty of
chsetodons, with long and tubular muzzles, which kill in
sects by shooting them, as from an air-gun, with a single
drop of water. These we may call the fly-catchers of the
seas.

“In the eighty-ninth genus of fishes, classed by Lac6-
pede, belonging to the second lower class of bony, charac¬
terised by opercules and bronchial membranes, I remarked
the scorpcena, the head of which is furnished with spikes,
and which has but one dorsal fin; these creatures are cov¬
ered, or not, with little shells, according to the sub-class to
which they belong. The second sub-class gives us speci¬
mens of didactyles fourteen or fifteen inches in length, with
yellow rays, and heads of a most fantastic appearance. As to
the first sub-class, it gives several specimens of that singular
looking fish appropriately called a ‘seafrog,’ with large
head, sometimes pierced with holes, sometimes swollen
with protuberances, bristling with spikes, and covered with
tubercles; it has irregular and hideous horns; its body and
tail are covered with callosities; its sting makes a danger¬
ous wound; it is both repugnant and horrible to look at.”

From the 21st to the 23d of January the Nautilus went
at the rate of two hundred and fifty leagues in twenty-four
hours, being five hundred and forty miles, or twenty-two
miles an hour. If we recognised so many different varieties
of fish, it was because, attracted by the electric light, they
tried to follow us; the greater part, however, were soon dis¬
tanced by our speed, though some kept their place in the
waters of the Nautilus for a time. The morning of the 24th,
in 12° S' south latitude, and 94° 33' longitude, we observed
Keeling Island, a madrepore formation, planted with mag¬
nificent cocoas, and which had been visited by Mr. Darwin
and Captain Fitzroy. The Nautilus skirted the shores of
this desert island for a little distance. Its nets brought up
numerous specimens of polypi, and curious shells of mol-
lusca. Some precious productions of the species of delphin-
ulse enriched the treasures of Captain Nemo, to which I
added an astra punctifera, a kind of parasite polypus of¬
ten found fixed to a shell. Soon Keeling Island disappeared
from the horizon, and our course was directed to the north¬
west in the direction of the Indian Peninsula.

THE INDIAN OCEAN

141

From Keeling Island our course was slower and more
variable, often taking us into great depths. Several times
they made use of the inclined planes, which certain internal
levers placed obliquely to the water-line. In that way we
went about two miles, but without ever obtaining the great¬
est depths of the Indian Sea, which soundings of seven
thousand fathoms have never reached. As to the tempera¬
ture of the lower strata, the thermometer invariably indi¬
cated 4° above zero. I only observed that, in the upper re¬
gions, the water was always colder in the high levels than
at the surface of the sea.

On the 25th of January, the ocean was entirely deserted;
the Nautilus passed the day on the surface, beating the
waves with its powerful screw, and making them rebound
to a great height. Who under such circumstances would
not have taken it for a gigantic cetacean? Three parts of
this day I spent on the platform. I watched the sea. Noth¬
ing on the horizon, till about four o’clock a steamer running
west on our counter. Her masts were visible for an instant,
but she could not see the Nautilus, being too low in the
water. I fancied this steamboat belonged to the P. O. Com¬
pany, which runs from Ceylon to Sydney, touching at King
George’s Point and Melbourne.

At five o’clock in the evening, before that fleeting twi¬
light which binds night to day in tropical zones, Conseil
and I were astonished by a curious spectacle.

It was a shoal of argonauts travelling along on the sur¬
face of the ocean. We could count several hundreds. They
belonged to the tubercle kind which are peculiar to the
Indian seas.

These graceful molluscs moved backwards by means
of their locomotive tube, through which they propelled the
water already drawn in. Of their eight tentacles, six were
elongated, and stretched out floating on the water, whilst
the other two, rolled up flat, were spread to the wind like
a light sail. I saw their spiral-shaped and fluted shells,
which Cuvier justly compares to an elegant skiff. A boat
indeedl It bears the creature which secretes it without its
adhering to it.

For nearly an hour the Nautilus floated in the midst of
this shoal of molluscs. Then I know not what sudden fright
took them. But as if at a signal every sail was furled, the

142 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

arms folded, the body drawn in, the shells turned over,
changing their centre of gravity, and the whole fleet disap¬
peared under the waves. Never did the ships of a squadron
manoeuvre with more unity.

At that moment night fell suddenly, and the reeds,
scarcely raised by the breeze, lay peaceably under the
sides of the Nautilus.

The next day, 26th of January, we cut the equator at
the eighty-second meridian, and entered the northern hemi¬
sphere. During the day, a formidable troop of sharks ac¬
companied us, terrible creatures, which multiply in these
seas, and make them very dangerous. They were “cestracio
philippi” sharks, with brown backs and whitish bellies,
armed with eleven rows of teeth — eyed sharks — their
throat being marked with a large black spot surrounded with
white like an eye. There were also some Isabella sharks,
with rounded snouts marked with dark spots. These power¬
ful creatures often hurled themselves at the windows of
the saloon with such violence as to make us feel very in¬
secure. At such times Ned Land was no longer master of
himself. He wanted to go to the surface and harpoon the
monsters, particularly certain smooth-hound sharks, whose
mouth is studded with teeth like a mosaic; and large tiger-
sharks nearly six yards long, the last named of which
seemed to excite him more particularly. But the Nautilus,
accelerating her speed, easily left the most rapid of them
behind.

The 27th of January, at the entrance of the vast Bay of
Bengal, we met repeatedly a forbidding spectacle, dead
bodies floating on the surface of the water. They were the
dead of the Indian villages, carried by the Ganges to the
level of the sea, and which the vultures, the only under¬
takers of the country, had not been able to devour. But the
sharks did not fail to help them at their funereal work.

About seven o’clock in the evening, the Nautilus, half
immersed, was sailing in a sea of milk. At first sight the
ocean seemed lactified. Was it the effect of the lunar rays?
No; for the moon, scarcely two days old, was still lying
hidden under the horizon in the rays of the sun. The whole
sky, though lit by the sidereal rays, seemed black by con¬
trast with the whiteness of the waters.

Conseil could not believe his eyes, and questioned me as

A NOVEL PROPOSAL OF CAPTAIN NEMO’S 143

to the cause of this strange phenomenon. Happily I was
able to answer him.

“It is called a milk sea,” I explained, “a large extent of
white wavelets often to be seen on the coasts of Amboyna,
and in these parts of the sea.”

“But, sir,” said Conseil, “can you tell me what causes
such an effect? for I suppose the water is not really turned
into milk.”

“No, my boy; and the whiteness which surprises you is
caused only by the presence of myriads of infusoria, a sort
of luminous little worm, gelatinous and without colour, of
the thickness of a hair, and whose length is not more than
7/1000 of an inch. These insects adhere to one another some¬
times for several leagues.”

“Several leagues 1” exclaimed Conseil.

“Yes, my boy; and you need not try to compute the
number of these infusoria. You will not be able; for, if I
am not mistaken/ships have floated on these milk seas for
more than forty miles.”

Towards midnight the sea suddenly resumed its usual
colour; but behind us, even to the limits of the horizon,
the sky reflected the whitened waves, and for a long time
seemed impregnated with the vague glimmerings of an
aurora borealis.

2. A Novel Proposal of Captain Nemo’s

On the 28th of February, when at noon the Nautilus came
to the surface of the sea, in 9° 4' north latitude, there was
land in sight about eight miles to westward. The first thing
I noticed was a range of mountains about two thousand feet
high, the shapes of which were most capricious. On taking
the bearings, I knew that we were nearing the Island of
Ceylon, the pearl which hangs from the lobe of the Indian
Peninsula.

Captain Nemo and his second appeared at this moment.
The Captain glanced at the map. Then, turning to me,
said —

“The Island of Ceylon, noted for its pearl-fisheries.
Would you like to visit one of them, M. Aronnax?”

“Certainly, Captain.”

“Well, the thing is easy. Though if we see the fisheries,

144 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

we shall not see the fishermen. The annual exportation has
not yet begun. Never mind, I will give orders to make for
the Gulf of Manaar, where we shall arrive in the night.”

The Captain said something to his second, who immedi¬
ately went out. Soon the Nautilus returned to her native
element, and the manometer showed that she was about
thirty feet deep.

“Well, sir,” said Captain Nemo, “you and your compan¬
ions shall visit the Bank of Manaar, and if by chance some
fisherman should be there, we shall see him at work.”

“Agreed, Captain!”

“By the by, M. Aronnax, you are not afraid of sharks?”

“Sharks 1” exclaimed I.

This question seemed a very hard one.

“Well?” continued Captain Nemo.

“I admit, Captain, that I am not yet very familiar with
that kind of fish.”

“We are accustomed to them,” replied Captain Nemo,
“and in time you will be too. However, we shall be armed,
and on the road we may be able to hunt some of the tribe.
It is interesting. So, till tomorrow, sir, and early.”

This said in a careless tone, Captain Nemo left the sa¬
loon. Now, if you were invited to hunt the bear in the
mountains of Switzerland, what would you say? “Very
well! tomorrow we will go and hunt the bear.” If you were
asked to hunt the lion in the plains of Atlas, or the tiger in
the Indian jungles, what would you say? “Hal ha! it seems
we are going to hunt the tiger or the lion!” But when you
are invited to hunt the shark in its natural element, you
would perhaps reflect before accepting the invitation. As
for myself, I passed my hand over my forehead, on which
stood large drops of cold perspiration. “Let us reflect,”
said I, “and take our time. Hunting otters in submarine
forests, as we did in the Island of Crespo, will pass; but
going up and down at the bottom of the sea, where one is
almost certain to meet sharks, is quite another thing! I
know well that in certain countries, particularly in the An¬
daman Islands, the negroes never hesitate to attack them
with a dagger in one hand and a running noose in the other;
but I also know that few who affront these creatures ever
return alive. However, I am not a negro, and, if I were, I
think a little hesitation in this case would not be ill-timed.”

A NOVEL PROPOSAL OF CAPTAIN NEMO’S 145

At this moment, Conseil and the Canadian entered, quite
composed, and even joyous. They knew not what awaited
them.

“Faith, sir,” said Ned Land, “your Captain Nemo-the
devil take him I— has just made us a very pleasant offer.”

“Ah! ” said I, “you know?”

“If agreeable to you, sir,” interrupted Conseil, “the Com¬
mander of the Nautilus has invited us to visit the magnifi¬
cent Ceylon fisheries tomorrow, in your company; he did
it kindly, and behaved like a real gentleman.”

“He said nothing more?”

“Nothing more, sir, except that he had already spoken
to you of this little walk.”

“Sir,” said Conseil, “would you give us some details of
the pearl-fishery?”

“As to the fishing itself,” I asked, “or the incidents,
which?”

“On the fishing,” replied the Canadian; “before enter¬
ing upon the ground, it is as well to know something about
it.”

“Very well; sit down, my friends, and I will teach you.”

Ned and Conseil seated themselves on an ottoman, and
the first thing the Canadian asked was—

“Sir, what is a pearl?”

“My worthy Ned,” I answered, “to the poet, a pearl is a
tear of the sea; to the Orientals, it is a drop of dew solidi¬
fied; to the ladies, it is a jewel of an oblong shape, of a
brilliancy of mother-of-pearl substance, which they wear
on their fingers, their necks, or their ears; for the diemist,
it is a mixture of phosphate and carbonate of lime, with a
little gelatine; and lastly, for naturalists, it is simply a
morbid secretion of the organ that produces the mother-of-
pearl amongst certain bivalves.”

“Branch of mollusca,” said Conseil, “class of acephali,
order of testacea.”

“Precisely so, my learned Conseil; and, amongst these
testacea, the earshell, the tridacnae, the turbots— in a word,
all those which secrete mother-of-pearl; that is, the blue,
bluish, violet, or white substance which lines the interior
of their shells, are capable of producing pearls.”

“Mussels, too?” asked the Canadian.

“Yes, mussels of certain waters in Scotland, Wales, Ire-

146 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

land, Saxony, Bohemia, and France.”

“Good! For the future I shall pay attention,” replied the
Canadian.

“But,” I continued, “the particular mollusc which se¬
cretes the pearl is the pearl-oyster, the meleagrina margari-
tifera, that precious pintadine. The pearl is nothing but a
nacreous formation, deposited in a globular form, either
adhering to the oyster-shell, or buried in the folds of the
creature. On the shell it is fast; in the flesh it is loose; but
always has for a kernel a small hard substance, may be a
barren egg, may be a grain of sand, around which the pearly
matter deposits itself year after year successively, and by
thin concentric layers.”

“Are many pearls found in the oyster?” asked Conseil.

“Yes, my boy. There are some pintadines a perfect cas¬
ket. One oyster has been mentioned, though I allow myself
to doubt it, as having contained no less than a hundred and
fifty sharks.”

“A hundred and fifty sharks!” exclaimed Ned Land.

“Did I say sharks?” said I, hurriedly. “I mean to say a
hundred and fifty pearls. Sharks would not be sense.”

“Certainly not,” said Conseil; “but will you tell us now
by what means they extract these pearls?”

“They proceed in various ways. When they adhere to
the shell, the fishermen often pull them off with pincers;
but the most common way is to lay the pintadines on mats
of the seaweed which covers the banks. Thus they die in
the open air; and at the end of ten days they are in a for¬
ward state of decomposition. They are then plunged into
large reservoirs of sea-water; then they are opened and
washed. Now begins the double work of the sorters. First
they separate the layers of pearl, known in commerce by
the name of bastard whites and bastard blacks, which are
delivered in boxes of two hundred and fifty and three hun¬
dred pounds each. Then they take the parenchyma of the
oyster, boil it, and pass it through a sieve in order to ex¬
tract the very smallest pearls.”

“The price of these pearls varies according to their size?”
asked Conseil.

“Not only according to their size,” I answered, “but also
according to their shape, their water (that is, their colour),

A NOVEL PROPOSAL OF CAPTAIN NEMO’S 147

and their lustre; that is, that bright and diapered sparkle
which makes them so charming to the eye. The most beau¬
tiful are called virgin pearls or paragons. They are formed
alone in the tissue of the mollusc, are white, often opaque,
and sometimes have the transparency of an opal; they are
generally round or oval. The round are made into brace¬
lets, the oval into pendants; and, being more precious, are
sold singly. Those adhering to the shell of the oyster are
more irregular in shape, and are sold by weight. Lastly, in a
lower order are classed those small pearls known under the
name of seed-pearls; they are sold by measure, and are
especially used in embroidery for church ornaments.”

“But,” said Conseil, “is this pearl-fishery dangerous?”

“No,” I answered, quickly; “particularly if certain pre¬
cautions are taken.”

“What does one risk in such a calling?” said Ned Land;
“the swallowing of some mouthfuls of sea-water?”

“As you say, Ned. By the by,” said I, trying to take Cap¬
tain Nemo’s careless tone, “are you afraid of sharks, brave
Ned?”

“II” replied the Canadian; “a harpooner by profession?
It is my trade to make light of them.”

“But,” said I, “it is not a question of fishing for them
with an iron swivel, hoisting them into the vessel, cutting
off their tails with a blow of a chopper, ripping them up,
and throwing their heart into the sea! ”

“Then, it is a question of - ” '

“Precisely.”

“In the water?”

“In the water.”

“Faith, with a good harpoon! You know, sir, these sharks
are ill-fashioned beasts. They must turn on their bellies to
seize you, and in that time - ”

Ned Land had a way of saying “seize,” which made my
blood run cold.

“Well, and you, Conseil, what do you think of sharks?”

“Me! ” said Conseil. “I will be frank, sir.”

“So much the better,” thought I.

“If you, sir, mean to face the sharks, I do not see why
your faithful servant should not face them with you.”

3. A Pearl of Ten Millions

The next morning at four o’clock I was awakened by the
steward, whom Captain Nemo had placed at my service. I
rose hurriedly, dressed, and went into the saloon.

Captain Nemo was awaiting me.

“M. Aronnax,” said he, “are you ready to start?”

“I am ready.”

“Then, please to follow me.”

“And my companions, Captain?”

“They have been told; and are waiting.”

“Are we not to put on our diver’s dresses?” asked I.

“Not yet. I have not allowed the Nautilus to come too
near this coast, and we are some distance from the Manaar
Bank; but the boat is ready, and will take us to the exact
point of disembarking, which will save us a long way. It
carries our diving apparatus, which we will put on when
we begin our submarine journey.”

Captain Nemo conducted me to the central staircase,
which led on to the platform. Ned and Conseil were already
there, delighted at the idea of the “pleasure party” which
was preparing. Five sailors from the Nautilus, with their
oars, waited in the boat, which had been made fast against
the side.

The night was still dark. Layers of clouds covered the
sky, allowing but few stars to be seen. I looked on the side
where the land lay, and saw nothing but a dark line en¬
closing three parts of the horizon, from south-west to north¬
west. The Nautilus, having returned during the night up
the western coast of Ceylon, was now west of the bay, or
rather gulf, formed by the mainland and the Island of Ma¬
naar. There, under the dark waters, stretched the pinta-
dine bank, an inexhaustible field of pearls, the length of
which is more than twenty miles.

Captain Nemo, Ned Land, Conseil, and I, took our places
in the stern of the boat. The master went to the tiller; his
four companions leaned on their oars, the painter was cast
off, and we sheered off.

The boat went towards the south; the oarsmen did not
hurry, I noticed that their strokes, strong in the water, only
followed each other every ten seconds, according to the
148

A PEARL OF TEN MILLIONS

149

method generally adopted in the navy. Whilst the craft
was running by its own velocity, the liquid drops struck
the dark depths of the waves crisply like spats of melted
lead. A little billow, spreading wide, gave a slight roll to
the boat, and some samphire reeds flapped before it.

We were silent. What was Captain Nemo thinking of?
Perhaps of the land he was approaching, and which he
found too near to him, contrary to the Canadian’s opinion,
who thought it too far off. As to Conseil, he was merely
there from curiosity.

About half-past five, the first tints on the horizon showed
the upper line of coast more distinctly. Flat enough in the
east, it rose a little to the south. Five miles still lay be¬
tween us, and it was indistinct owing to the mist on the
water. At six o’clock it became suddenly daylight, with that
rapidity peculiar to tropical regions, which know neither
dawn nor twilight. The solar rays pierced the curtain of
clouds, piled up on the eastern horizon, and the radiant
orb rose rapidly. I saw land distinctly, with a few trees
scattered here and there. The boat neared Manaar Island,
which was rounded to the south. Captain Nemo rose from
his seat and watched the sea.

At a sign from him the anchor was dropped, but the
chain scarcely ran, for it was little more than a yard deep,
and this spot was one of the highest points of the bank of
pintadines.

“Here we are, M. Aronnax,” said Captain Nemo. “You
see that enclosed bay? Here, in a month, will be assembled
the numerous fishing-boats of the exporters, and these are
the waters their divers will ransack so boldly. Happily, this
bay is well situated for that kind of fishing. It is sheltered
from the strongest winds; the sea is never very rough here,
which makes it favourable for the diver’s work. We will
now put on our dresses, and begin our walk.”

I did not answer, and while watching the suspected
waves, began with the help of the sailors to put on my
heavy seadress. Captain Nemo and my companions were
also dressing. None of the Nautilus men were to accompany
us on this new excursion.

Soon we were enveloped to the throat in india-rubber
clothing, the air apparatus fixed to our backs by braces.
As to the Ruhmkorff apparatus, there was no necessity for

ISO 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

it. Before putting my head into the copper cap, I had asked

the question of the Captain.

“They would be useless,” he replied. “We are going to
no great depth, and the solar rays will be enough to light
our walk. Besides, it would not be prudent to carry the elec¬
tric light in these waters; its brilliancy might attract some
of the dangerous inhabitants of the coast most inoppor¬
tunely.”

As Captain Nemo pronounced these words, I turned to
Conseil and Ned Land. But my two friends had already en¬
cased their heads in the metal cap, and they could neither
hear nor answer.

One last question remained to ask of Captain Nemo.

“And our arms?” asked I; “our guns?”

“Gunsl what for? Do not mountaineers attack the bear
with a dagger in their hand, and is not steel surer than
lead? Here is a strong blade, put it in your belt, and we
start.”

I looked at my companions; they were armed like us,
and, more than that, Ned Land was brandishing an enor¬
mous harpoon, which he had placed in the boat before leav¬
ing the Nautilus.

Then, following the Captain’s example, I allowed myself
to be dressed in the heavy copper helmet, and our reser¬
voirs of air were at once in activity. An instant after we
were landed, one after the other, in about two yards of
water upon an even sand. Captain Nemo made a sign with
his hand, and we followed him by a gentle declivity till we
disappeared under the waves.

Over our feet, like coveys of snipe in a bog, rose shoals of
fish, of the genus monoptera, which have no other fins but
their tail. I recognized the Javanese, a real serpent two and
a half feet long, of a livid colour underneath, and which
might easily be mistaken for a conger eel if it were not for
the golden stripes on its side. In the genus stromateus,
whose bodies are very flat and oval, I saw some of the most
brilliant colours, carrying their dorsal fin like a scythe; an
excellent eating fish, which, dried, and pickled, is known by
the name of Karawade; then some tranquebars, belonging
to the genus apsiphoroides, whose body is covered with a
shell cuirass of eight longitudinal plates.

The heightening sun lit the mass of waters more and

A PEARL OF TEN MILLIONS ' 1S1

more. The soil changed by degrees. To the fine sand suc¬
ceeded a perfect causeway of boulders, covered with a car¬
pet of molluscs and zoophytes. Amongst the specimens of
these branches I noticed some placenae, with thin unequal
shells, a kind of ostracion peculiar to the Red Sea and the
Indian Ocean; some orange lucinae with rounded shells;
rockfish three feet and a half long, which raised them¬
selves under the waves like hands ready to seize one. There
were also some panopyres, slightly luminous; and lastly,
some oculines, like magnificent fans, forming one of the
richest vegetations of these seas.

In the midst of these living plants, and under the ar¬
bours of the hydrophytes, were layers of clumsy articu¬
lates, particularly some raninse, whose carapace formed a
slightly rounded triangle; and some horrible looking par-
thenopes.

At about seven o’clock we found ourselves at last sur¬
veying the oyster-banks, on which the pearl-oysters are re¬
produced by millions.

Captain Nemo pointed with his hand to the enormous
heap of oysters; and I could well understand that this mine
was inexhaustible, for Nature’s creative power is far be¬
yond man’s instinct of destruction. Ned Land, faithful to
his instinct, hastened to fill a net which he carried by his
side with some of the finest specimens. But we could not
stop. We must follow the Captain, who seemed to guide
himself by paths known only to himself. The ground was
sensibly rising, and sometimes, on holding up my arm, it
was above the surface of the sea. Then the level of the
bank would sink capriciously. Often we rounded high rocks
scarped into pyramids. In their dark tractures huge Crus¬
tacea, perched upon their high claws like some war-ma¬
chines, watched us with fixed eyes, and under our feet
crawled various kinds of annelides.

At this moment there opened before us a large grotto,
dug in a picturesque heap of rocks, and carpeted with all
the thick warp of the submarine flora. At first it seemed
very dark to me. The solar rays seemed to be extinguished
by successive gradations, until its vague transparency be¬
came nothing more than drowned light. Captain Nemo en¬
tered; we followed. My eyes soon accustomed themselves
to this relative state of darkness. I could distinguish the

152 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

arches springing capriciously from natural pillars, standing
broad upon their granite base, like the heavy columns of
Tuscan architecture. Why had our incomprehensible guide
led us to the bottom of this submarine crypt? I was soon
to know. After descending a rather sharp declivity, our feet
trod the bottom of a kind of circular pit. There Captain
Nemo stopped and with his hand indicated an object I had
not yet perceived. It was an oyster of extraordinary di¬
mensions, a gigantic tridacne, a goblet which could have
contained a whole lake of holy water, a basin the breadth
of which was more than two yards and a half, and conse¬
quently larger than that ornamenting the saloon of the
Nautilus. I approached this extraordinary mollusc. It ad¬
hered by its byssus to a table of granite, and there isolated,
it developed itself in the calm waters of the grotto. I es¬
timated the weight of this tridacne at 600 pounds. Such an
oyster would contain thirty pounds of meat; and one must
have the stomach of a Gargantua to demolish some dozens
of them.

Captain Nemo was evidently acquainted with the exist¬
ence of this bivalve, and seemed to have a particular mo¬
tive in verifying the actual state of this tridacne. The shells
were a little open; the Captain came near and put his dag¬
ger between to prevent them from closing; then with his
hand he raised the membrane with its fringed edges, which
formed a cloak for the creature. There, between the folded
plaits, I saw a loose pearl, whose size equalled that of a
cocoa-nut. Its globular shape, perfect clearness, and admi¬
rable lustre made it altogether a jewel of inestimable value.
Carried away by my curiosity I stretched out my hand to
seize it, weigh it, and touch it; but the Captain stopped
me, made a sign of refusal, and quickly withdrew his dag¬
ger, and the two shells closed suddenly. I then understood
Captain Nemo’s intention. In leaving this pearl hidden in
the mantle of the tridacne, he was allowing it to grow
slowly. Each year the secretions of the mollusc would add
new concentric circles. I estimated its value at £500,000
at least.

After "ten minutes Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. I
thought he had halted previous to returning. No; by a ges¬
ture he bade us crouch beside him in a deep fracture of the

A PEARL OF TEN MILLIONS 1S3

rock, his hand pointed to one part of the liquid mass, which
I watched attentively.

About five yards from me a shadow appeared, and sank
to the ground. The disquieting idea of sharks shot through
my mind, but I was mistaken; and once again it was not a
monster of the ocean that we had anything to do with.

It was a man, a living man, an Indian, a fisherman, a
poor devil who, I suppose, had come to glean before the
harvest. I could see the bottom of his canoe anchored some
feet above his head. He dived and went up successively. A
stone held between his feet, cut in the shape of a sugar
loaf, whilst a rope fastened him to his boat, helped him to
descend more rapidly. This was all his apparatus. Reaching
the bottom about five yards deep, he went on his knees and
filled his bag with oysters picked up at random. Then he
went up, emptied it, pulled up his stone, and began the
operation once more, which lasted thirty seconds.

The diver did not see us. The shadow of the rock hid us
from sight. And how should this poor Indian ever dream
that men, beings like himself, should be there under the
water watching his movements, and losing no detail of the
fishing? Several times he went up in this way, and dived
again. He did not carry away more than ten at each plunge,
for he was obliged to pull them from the bank to which
they adhered by means of their strong byssus. And how
many of those oysters for which he risked his life had no
pearl in them! I watched him closely, his manoeuvres were
regular; and, for the space of half an hour, no danger ap¬
peared to threaten him.

I was beginning to accustom myself to the sight of this
interesting fishing, when suddenly, as the Indian was on
the ground, I saw him make a gesture of terror, rise, and
make a spring to return to the surface of the sea.

I understood his dread. A gigantic shadow appeared just
above the unfortunate diver. It was a shark of enormous
size advancing diagonally, his eyes on fire, and his jaws
open. I was mute with horror, and unable to move.

The voracious creature shot towards the Indian, who
threw himself on one side in order to avoid the shark’s
fins; but not its tail, for it struck his chest, and stretched
him on the ground.

154 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

This scene lasted but a few seconds: the shark returned,
and, turning on his back, prepared himself for cutting the
Indian in two, when I saw Captain Nemo rise suddenly,
and then, dagger in hand, walk straight to the monster,
ready to fight face to face with him. The very moment the
shark was going to snap the unhappy fisherman in two, he
perceived his new adversary, and turning over, made
straight towards him.

I can still see Captain Nemo’s position. Holding himself
well together, he waited for the shark with admirable cool¬
ness, and when it rushed at him, threw himself on one side
with wonderful quickness, avoiding the shock and burying
his dagger deep into its side. But it was not all over. A ter¬
rible combat ensued.

The shark had seemed to roar, if I might say so. The
blood rushed in torrents from its wound. The sea was dyed
red, and through the opaque liquid I could distinguish
nothing more. Nothing more until the moment when, like
lightning, I saw the undaunted Captain hanging on to one
of the creature’s fins, struggling, as it were, hand to hand
with the monster, and dealing successive blows at his
enemy, yet still unable to give a decisive one.

The shark’s struggles agitated the water with such fury
that the rocking threatened to upset me.

I wanted to go to the Captain’s assistance, but, nailed to
the spot with horror, I could not stir.

I saw the haggard eye; I saw the different phases of the
fight. The Captain fell to the earth, upset by the enormous
mass which leant upon him. The shark’s jaws opened wide,
like a pair of factory shears, and it would have been all over
with the Captain; but, quick as thought, harpoon in hand,
Ned Land rushed towards the shark and struck it with its
sharp point.

The waves were impregnated with a mass of blood. They
rocked under the shark’s movements, which beat them with
indescribable fury. Ned Land had not missed his aim. It
was the monster’s death-rattle. Struck to the heart, it strug¬
gled in dreadful convulsions, the shock of which overthrew
Conseil.

But Ned Land had disentangled the Captain, who, getting
up without any wound, went straight to the Indian, quickly
cut the cord which held him to his stone, took him in his

A PEARL OF TEN MILLIONS 1SS

arms, and, with a sharp blow of his heel, mounted to the
surface.

We all three followed in a few seconds, saved by a mira¬
cle, and reached the fisherman’s boat.

Captain Nemo’s first care was to recall the unfortunate
man to life again. I did not think he could succeed. I hoped
so, for the poor creature’s immersion was not long; but the
blow from the shark’s tail might have been his death-blow.

Happily, with the Captain’s and Conseil’s sharp friction,
I saw consciousness return by degrees. He opened his eyes.
What was his surprise, his terror even, at seeing four great
copper heads leaning over him! And, above all, what must
he have thought when Captain Nemo, drawing from the
pocket of his dress a bag of pearls, placed it in his hand!
This munificent charity from the man of the waters to the
poor Cingalese was accepted with a trembling hand. His
wondering eyes showed that he knew not to what super¬
human beings he owed both fortune §nd life.

At a sign from the Captain we regained the bank, and
following the road already traversed, came in about half an
hour to the anchor which held the canoe of the Nautilus to
the earth.

Once on board, we each, with the help of the sailors, got
rid of the heavy copper helmet.

Captain Nemo’s first word was to the Canadian.

“Thank you, Master Land,”- said he.

“It was in revenge, Captain,” replied Ned Land. “I owed
you that.”

A ghastly smile passed across the Captain’s lips, and
that was all.

“To the Nautilus " said he.

The boat flew over the waves. Some minutes after, we
met the shark’s dead body floating. By the black marking
of the extremity of its fins, I recognised the terrible melan-
opteron of the Indian Seas of the species of shark properly
so called. It was more than twenty-five feet long; its enor¬
mous mouth occupied one-third of its body. It was an adult,
as was known by its six rows of teeth placed in an isosceles
triangle in the upper jaw.

Conseil looked at it with scientific interest, and I am sure
that he placed it, and not without reason, in the cartilagi¬
nous class, of the chondropterygian order, with fixed gills,

156 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

of the selacian family, in the genus of the sharks.

Whilst I was contemplating this inert mass, a dozen of
these voracious beasts appeared round the boat; and, with¬
out noticing us, threw themselves upon the dead body and
fought with one another for the pieces.

At half-past eight we were again on board the Nautilus.
There I reflected on the incidents which had taken place in
our excursion to the Manaar Bank.

Two conclusions I must inevitably draw from it — one
bearing upon the unparalleled courage of Captain Nemo, the
other upon his devotion to a human being, a representative
of that race from which he fled beneath the sea. Whatever
he might say, this strange man had not yet succeeded in
entirely crushing his heart.

When I made this observation to him, he answered in a
slightly moved tone- —

“That Indian, sir, is an inhabitant of an oppressed coun¬
try; and I am still, and shall be, to my last breath, one of
theml”

4. The Red Sea

In the course of the day of the 29th of January, the Island
of Ceylon disappeared under the horizon, and the Nautilus,
at a speed of twenty miles an hour, slid into the labyrinth of
canals which separate the Maldives from the Laccadives.
It coasted even the Island of Kiltan, a land originally
madreporic, discovered by Vasco da Gama in 1499, and
one of the nineteen principal islands of the Laccadive Ar¬
chipelago, situated between 10° and 14° 30' north latitude,
and 69° 50' 12" east longitude.

We had made 16,200 miles, or 7500 (French) leagues
from our starting-point in the Japanese Seas.

The next day (30th January), when the Nautilus went
to the surface of the ocean, there was no land in sight. Its
course was N.N.W., in the direction of the Sea of Oman,
between Arabia and the Indian Peninsula, which serves as an
outlet to the Persian Gulf. It was evidently a block without
any possible egress. Where was Captain Nemo taking us to?
I could not say. This, however, did not satisfy the Canadian,
who that day came to me asking where we were going.

THE RED SEA 157

“We are going where our Captain’s fancy takes us, Mas¬
ter Ned.”

“His fancy cannot take us far, then,” said the Canadian.
“The Persian Gulf has no outlet: and if we do go in, it will
not be long before we are out again.”

“Very well, then, we will come out again, Master Land;
and if, after the Persian Gulf, the Nautilus would like to
visit the Red Sea, the Straits of Bab-el-mandeb are there to
give us entrance.”

“I need not tell you, sir,” said Ned Lancf, “that the Red
Sea is as much closed as the Gulf, as the Isthmus of Suez is
not yet cut; and if it was, a boat as mysterious as ours would
not risk itself in a canal cut with sluices. And again, the Red
Sea is not the road to take us back to Europe.”

“But I never said we were going back to Europe.”

“What do you suppose, then?”

“I suppose that, after visiting the curious coasts of Arabia
and Egypt, the Nautilus will go down the Indian Ocean
again, perhaps cross the Channel of Mozambique, perhaps
off the Mascarenhas, so as to gain the Cape of Good Hope.”

“And once at the Cape of Good Hope?” asked the Cana¬
dian, with peculiar emphasis.

“Well, we shall penetrate into that Atlantic which we do
not yet know. Ah! friend Ned, you are getting tired of this
journey under the sea; you are surfeited with the in¬
cessantly varying spectacle of submarine wonders. For my
part, I shall be sorry to see the end of a voyage which it is
given to so few men to make.”

For four days, till the 3d of February, the Nautilus
scoured the Sea of Oman, at various speeds and at various
depths. It seemed to go at random, as if hesitating as to
which road it should follow, but we never passed the tropic
of Cancer.

In quitting this sea we sighted Muscat for an instant,
one of the most important towns of the country of Oman. I
admired its strange aspect, surrounded by black rocks upon
which its white houses and forts stood in relief. I saw the
rounded domes of its mosques, the elegant points of its min¬
arets, its fresh and verdant terraces. But it was only a
vision! the Nautilus soon sank under the waves of that
part of the sea.

1S8 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

We passed along the Arabian coast of Mahrah and
Hadramaut, for a distance of six miles, its undulating
line of mountains being occasionally relieved by some an¬
cient ruin. The 5th of February we at last entered the Gulf
of Aden, a perfect funnel introduced into the neck of Bab-
el-mandeb, through which the Indian waters entered the
Red Sea.

The 6th of February, the Nautilus floated in sight of
Aden, perched upon a promontory which a narrow isthmus
joins to the mainland, a kind of inaccessible Gibraltar, the
fortifications of which were rebuilt by the English after
taking possession in 1839. 1 caught a glimpse of the octagon
minarets of this town, which was at one time, according to
the historian Edrisi, the richest commercial magazine on the
coast.

I certainly thought that Captain Nemo, arrived at this
point, would back out again; but I was mistaken, for he did
no such thing, much to my surprise.

The next day, the 7th of February, we entered the
Straits of Bab-el-mandeb, the name of which, in the Arab
tongue, means “The gate of tears.”

To twenty miles in breath, it is only thirty-two in length.
And for the Nautilus, starting at full speed, the crossing was
scarcely the work of an hour. But I saw nothing, not even
the Island of Perim, with which the British Government has
fortified the position of Aden. There were too many Eng¬
lish or French steamers of the line of Suez to Bombay,
Calcutta to Melbourne, and from Bourbon to the Mauritius,
furrowing this narrow passage, for the Nautilus to venture
to show itself. So it remained prudently below. At last, about
noon, we were in the waters of the Red Sea.

I would not even seek to understand the caprice which
had decided Captain Nemo upon entering the gulf. But I
quite approved of the Nautilus entering it. Its speed was les¬
sened; sometimes it kept on the surface, sometimes it dived
to avoid a vessel, and thus I was able to observe the upper
and lower parts of this curious sea.

The 8th of February, from the first dawn of day, Mocha
came in sight, now a ruined town, whose walls would fall at
a gunshot, yet which shelters here and there some verdant
date-trees; once an important city, containing six public
markets, and twenty-six mosques, and whose walls, de-

THE RED SEA 1S9

fended by fourteen forts, formed a girdle of two miles in cir¬
cumference.

The Nautilus then approached the African shore, where
the depth of the sea was greater. There, between two waters
clear as crystal, through the open panels we were allowed
to contemplate the beautiful bushes of brilliant coral, and
large blocks of rocks clothed with a splendid fur of green
algae and fuci. What an indescribable spectacle, and what
variety of sites and landscapes along these sandbanks and
volcanic islands which bound the Libyan coast 1 But where
these shrubs appeared in all their beauty was on the east¬
ern coast, which the Nautilus soon gained. It was on the
coast of Tehama, for there not only did this display of
zoophytes flourish beneath the level of the sea, but they also
formed picturesque interfacings which unfolded themselves
about sixty feet above the surface, more capricious but less
highly coloured than those whose freshness was kept up by
the vital power of the waters.

What charming hours I passed thus at the window of the
saloon! What new specimens of submarine flora and fauna
did I admire under the brightness of our electric lantern!

There grew sponges of all shapes, pediculated, foliated,
globular, and digital. They certainly justified the names of
baskets, cups, distaffs, elks’-horns, lions’-feet, peacocks’-
tails, and Neptunes’-gloves, which have been given to them
by the fishermen, greater poets than the savants.

Other zoophytes which multiply near the sponges consist
principally of medusae of a most elegant kind. The mol¬
luscs were represented by varieties of the calmar (which,
according to Orbigny, are peculiar to the Red Sea); and
reptiles by the virgata turtle, of the genus of cheloniae, which
furnished a wholesome and delicate food for our table.

As to the fish, they were abundant, and often remarkable.
The following are those which the nets of the Nautilus
brought more frequently on board : —

Rays of a red-brick colour, with bodies marked with blue
spots, and easily recognisable by their double spikes; some
superb caranxes, marked with seven transverse bands of jet-
black, blue and yellow fins, and gold and silver scales; mul¬
lets with yellow heads; gobies, and a thousand other spe¬
cies, common to the ocean which we had just traversed.

The 9th of February, the Nautilus floated in the broadest

160 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

part of the Red Sea, which is comprised between Souakin,
on the west coast, and Koomfidah, on the east coast, with a
diameter of ninety miles.

That day at noon, after the bearings were taken, Captain
Nemo mounted the platform where I happened to be, and I
was determined not to let him go down again without at least
pressing him regarding his ulterior projects. As soon as he
saw me he approached, and graciously offered me a cigar.

“Well, sir, does this Red Sea please you? Have you suffi¬
ciently observed the wonders it covers, its fishes, its zoo¬
phytes, its parterres of sponges, and its forests of coral? Did
you catch a glimpse of the towns on its borders?”

“Yes, Captain Nemo,” I replied; “and the Nautilus is
wonderfully fitted for such a study. Ah! it is an intelligent
boat!”

“Yes, sir, intelligent and invulnerable. It fears neither
the terrible tempests of the Red Sea, nor its currents, nor its
sandbanks.”

“Certainly,” said I, “this sea is quoted as one of the worst,
and in the time of the ancients, if I am not mistaken, its rep¬
utation was detestable.”

“Detestable, M. Aronnax. The Greek and Latin histo¬
rians do not speak favourably of it, and Strabo says it is very
dangerous during the Etesian winds, and in the rainy sea¬
son. The Arabian Edrisi portrays it under the name of the
Gulf of Colzoum, and relates that vessels perished there in
great numbers on the sandbanks, and that no one would
risk sailing in the night. It is, he pretends, a sea subject to
fearful hurricanes, strewn with inhospitable islands, and
‘which offers nothing good either on its surface or in
its depths.’ Such, too, is the opinion of Arrian, Agathar-
cides, and Artemidorus.”

“One may see,” I replied, “that these historians never
sailed on board the Nautilus .”

“Just so,” replied the Captain, smiling; “and in that re¬
spect moderns are not more advanced than the ancients. It
required many ages to find out the mechanical power of
steam. Who knows if, in another hundred years, we may not
see a second Nautilus ? Progress is slow, M. Aronnax.”

“It is true,” I answered; “your boat is at least a century
before its time, perhaps an era. What a misfortune that the
secret of such an invention should die with its inventor!”

THE BED SEA 161

Captain Nemo did not reply. After some minutes silence
he continued —

“You were speaking of the opinions of ancient historians
upon the dangerous navigation of the Red Sea.”

“It is true,” said I; “but were not their fears exagger¬
ated?”

“Yes and no, M. Aronnax,” replied Captain Nemo, who
seemed to know the Red Sea by heart. “That which is no
longer dangerous for a modern vessel, well rigged, strongly
built, and master of its own course, thanks to obedient
steam, offered all sorts of perils to the ships of the ancients.
Picture to yourself those first navigators venturing in ships
made of plants sewn with the cords of the palm-tree, sat¬
urated with the grease of the sea-dog, and covered with
powdered resin! They had not even instruments wherewith
to take their bearings, and they went by guess amongst cur¬
rents of which they scarcely knew anything. Under such
conditions shipwrecks were, and must have been, numerous.
But in our time, steamers running between Suez and the
South Seas have nothing more to fear from the fury of this
gulf, in spite of contrary trade-winds. The captain and
passengers do not prepare for their departure by offering
propitiatory sacrifices: and, on their return, they no longer
go ornamented with wreaths and gilt fillets to thank the
gods in the neighbouring temple.”

“I agree with you,” said I; “and steam seems to have
killed all gratitude in the hearts of sailors. But, Captain,
since you seem to have especially studied this sea, can you
tell me the origin of its name?”

“There exist several explanations on the subject, M. Aron¬
nax. Would you like to know the opinion of a chronicler of
the fourteenth century?”

“Willingly.”

“This fanciful writer pretends that its name was given to
It after the passage of the Israelites, when Pharaoh per¬
ished in the waves which closed at the voice of Moses.”

“A poet’s explanation, Captain Nemo,” I replied; “but I
cannot content myself with that. I ask you for your personal
opinion.”

“Here it is, M. Aronnax. According to my idea, we must
see In this appellation of the Red Sea a translation of the He¬
brew word ‘Edom’; and if the ancients gave it that name, it

162

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
was on account of the particular colour of its waters.”

“But up to this time I have seen nothing but transparent
waves and without any particular colour.”

“Very likely! but as we advance to the bottom of the gulf,
you will see this singular appearance. I remember seeing
the Bay of Tor entirely red, like a sea of blood.”

“And you attribute this colour to the presence of a micro¬
scopic seaweed?”

“Yes; it is a mucilaginous purple matter, produced by
the restless little plants known by the name of trichodes-
mia, and of which it requires 40,000 to occupy the space of
a square .04 of an inch. Perhaps we shall meet some when we
get to Tor.”

“So, Captain Nemo, it is not the first time you have over¬
run the Red Sea on board the Nautilus ?”

“No, sir.”

“As you spoke a while ago of the passage of the Israelites,
and of the catastrophe to the Egyptians, I will ask whether
you have met with traces under the water of this great his¬
torical fact?”

“No, sir; and for a very good reason.”

“What is it?”

“It is, that the spot where Moses and his people passed
is now so blocked up with sand, that the camels can barely
bathe their legs there. You can well understand that
there would not be water enough for my Nautilus

“And the spot?” I asked.

“The spot is situated a little above the Isthmus of Suez, in
the arm which formerly made a deep estuary, when the Red
Sea extended to the Salt Lakes. Now, whether this passage
were miraculous or not, the Israelites, nevertheless, crossed
there to reach the Promised Land, and Pharaoh’s army per¬
ished precisely on that spot; and I think that excavations
made in the middle of the sand would bring to light a large
number of arms and instruments of Egyptian origin.”

“That is evident,” I replied; “and for the sake of archae¬
ologists let us hope that these excavations will be made
sooner or later, when new towns are established on the isth¬
mus, after the construction of the Suez Canal; a canal, how¬
ever, very useless to a vessel like the Nautilus.”

“Very likely; but useful to the whole world,” said Cap¬
tain Nemo. “The ancients well understood the utility of a

THE RED SEA 163

communication between the Red Sea and the Mediterra¬
nean for their commercial affairs: but they did not think of
digging a canal direct, and took the Nile as an intermediate.
Very probably the canal which united the Nile to the Red
Sea was begun by Sesostris, if we may believe tradition.
One thing is certain, that in the year 615 before Je¬
sus Christ, Necos undertook the works of an alimentary ca¬
nal to the waters of the Nile, across the plain of Egypt, look¬
ing towards Arabia. It took four days to go up this canal,
and it was so wide that two triremes could go abreast. It
was carried on by Darius, the son of Hystaspes, and prob¬
ably finished by Ptolemy II. Strabo saw it navigated; but its
decline from the point of departure, near Bubastes, to the
Red Sea was so slight, that it was only navigable for a few
months in the year. This canal answered all commerical pur¬
poses to the age of Antoninus, when it was abandoned and
blocked up with sand. Restored by order of the Caliph
Omar, it was definitely destroyed in 761 or 762 by Caliph
Al-Mansor, who wished to prevent the arrival of provisions
to Mohammed-ben-Abdallah, who had revolted against him.
During the expedition into Egypt, your General Bonaparte
discovered traces of the works in the Desert of Suez; and
surprised by the tide, he nearly perished before regaining
Hadjaroth, at the very place where Moses had encamped
three thousand years before him.”

“Well, Captain, what the ancients dared not undertake,
this junction between the two seas, which will shorten the
road from Cadiz to India, M. Lesseps has succeeded in do¬
ing; and before long he will have changed Africa into an
immense island.”

“Yes, M. Aronnax; you have the right to be proud of your
countryman. Such a man brings more honour to a nation
than great captains. He began, like so many others, with
disgust and rebuffs; but he has triumphed, for he has the
genius of will. And it is sad to think that a work like that,
which ought to have been an international work, and which
would have sufficed to make a reign illustrious, should have
succeeded by the energy of one man. All honour to M. Les¬
seps!”

“Yes, honour to the great citizen!” I replied, surprised
by the manner in which Captain Nemo had just spoken.

“Unfortunately,” he continued, “I cannot take you

164

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
through the Suez Canal; but you will be able to see the long
jetty of Port Said after tomorrow, when we shall be in the
Mediterranean.”

“The Mediterranean!” I exclaimed.

“Yes, sir; does that astonish you?”

“What astonishes me is to think that we shall be there
the day after tomorrow.”

“Indeed?”

“Yes, Captain, although by this time I ought to have ac¬
customed myself to be surprised at nothing since I have
been on board your boat.”

“But the cause of this surprise?”

“Well, it is the fearful speed you will have to put on the
Nautilus , if the day after tomorrow she is to be in the Medi¬
terranean, having made the round of Africa, and doubled the
Cape of Good' Hope !”

“Who told you that we would make the round of Africa,
and double the Cape of Good Hope, sir?”

“Well, unless the Nautilus sails on dry land, and passes
above the isthmus - ”

“Or beneath it, M. Aronnax.”

“Beneath it?”

“Certainly,” replied Captain Nemo, quietly. “A long time
ago Nature made under this tongue of land what man has
this day made on its surface.”

“What! such a passage exists?”

“Yes; a subterranean passage, which I have named the
Arabian tunnel. It takes us beneath Suez, and opens into
the Gulf of Pelusium.”

“But this ithmus is composed of nothing but quicksands?”

“To a certain depth. But at fifty-five yards only, there is
a solid layer of rock.”

“Did you discover this passage by chance?” I asked,
more and more surprised.

“Chance and reasoning, sir; and by reasoning even more
than by chance. Not only does this passage exist, but I have
profited by it several times. Without that I should not have
ventured this day into the impassable Red Sea. I noticed
that in the Red Sea and in the Mediterranean there existed
a certain number of fishes of a kind perfectly identical —
Ophidia, fiatoles, girelles, and exocceti. Certain of that fact,
I asked myself was it possible that there was no communi-

THE ARABIAN TUNNEL 165

cation between the two seas? If there was, the subterranean
current must necessarily run from the Red Sea to the Medi¬
terranean, from the sole cause of difference of level. I caught
a large number of fishes in the neighbourhood of Suez. I
passed a copper ring through their tails, and threw them
back into the sea. Some months later, on the coast of Pyria,
I caught some of my fish ornamented with the ring. Thus
the communication between the two was proved. I then
sought for it with my Nautilus ; I discovered it, ventured
into it, and before long, sir, you too will have passed through
my Arabian tunnel I”

5. The Arabian Tunnel

That same evening, in 20° SC/ north latitude, the Nautilus
floated on the surface of the sea, approaching the Arabian
coast. I saw Djeddah, the most important counting-house of
Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and India. I distinguished clearly
enough its buildings, the vessels anchored at the quays, and
those whose draught of water obliged them to anchor in the
roads. The sun, rather low on the horizon, struck full on the
houses of the town, bringing out their whiteness. Outside,
some wooden cabins, and some made of reeds, showed the
quarter inhabited by the Bedouins. Soon Djeddah was shut
out from view by the shadows of night, and the Nautilus
found herself under water slightly phosphorescent.

The next day, the 10th of February, we sighted several
ships running to windward. The Nautilus returned to its
submarine navigation; but at noon, when her bearings were
taken, the sea being deserted, she rose again to her water¬
line.

Accompanied by Ned and Conseil, I seated myself on the
platform. The coast on the eastern side looked like a mass
faintly printed upon a damp fog.

We were leaning on the sides of the pinnace, talking of
one thing and another, when Ned Land, stretching out his
hand towards a spot on the sea, said —

“Do you see anything there, sir?”

“No, Ned,” I replied; “but I have not your eyes, you
know.”

“Look well,” said Ned, “there, on the starboard beam,

166 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

about the height of the lantern! Do you not see a mass which

seems to move?”

“Certainly,” said I, after close attention; “I see some¬
thing like a long black body on the top of the water.”

And certainly before long the black object was not more
than a mile from us. It looked like a great sandbank depos¬
ited in the open sea. It was a gigantic dugongl

Ned Land looked eagerly. His eyes shone with covetous¬
ness at the sight of the animal. His hand seemed ready to
harpoon it. One would have thought he was awaiting the
moment to throw himself into the sea, and attack it in its
element.

At this instant Captain Nemo appeared on the platform.
He saw the dugong, understood the Canadian’s attitude,
and addressing him, said —

“If you held a harpoon just now, Master Land, would it
not burn your hand?”

“Just so, sir.”

“And you would not be sorry to go back, for one day, to
your trade of a fisherman, and to add this cetacean to the
list of those you have already killed?”

“I should not, sir.”

“Well, you can try.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Ned Land, his eyes flaming.

“Only,” continued the Captain, “I advise you for your
own sake not to miss the creature.”

“Is the dugong dangerous to -attack?” I asked, in spite of
the Canadian’s shrug of the shoulders.

“Yes,” replied the Captain; “sometimes the animal turns
upon its assailants and overturns their boat. But for Master
Land, this danger is not to be feared. His eye is prompt, his
arm sure.”

At this moment, seven men of the crew, mute and im¬
movable as ever, mounted the platform. One carried a har¬
poon and a line similar to those employed in catching whales.
The pinnace was lifted from the bridge, pulled from its
socket, and let down into the sea. Six oarsmen took their
seats, and the coxswain went to the tiller. Ned, Conseil, and
I went to the back of the boat.

“You are not coming, Captain?” I asked.

“No, sir; but I wish you good sport.”

The boat put off, and lifted by the six rowers, drew rap-

THE ARABIAN TUNNEL 167

idly towards the dugong, which floated about two miles
from the Nautilus.

Arrived some cables’ length from the cetacean, the speed
slackened, and the oars dipped noiselessly into the quiet
waters. Ned Land, harpoon in hand, stood in the forepart
of the boat. The harpoon used for striking the whale is gen¬
erally attached to a very long cord, which runs out rapidly
as the wounded creature draws it after him. But here the
cord was not more than ten fathoms long, and the extremity
was attached to a small barrel, which, by floating, was to
show the course the dugong took under the water.

I stood, and carefully watched the Canadian’s adversary.
This dugong, which also bears the name of the halicore,
closely resembled the manatee; its oblong body terminated
in a lengthened tail, and its lateral fins in perfect fingers.
Its difference from the manatee consisted in its upper jaw,
which was armed with two long and pointed teeth, which
formed on each side diverging tusks.

This dugong, which Ned Land was preparing to attack,
was of colossal dimensions; it was more than seven yards
long. It did not move, and seemed to be sleeping on
the waves, which circumstance made it easier to capture.

The boat approached within six yards of the animal. The
oars rested on the rowlocks. I half rose. Ned Land, his body
thrown a little back, brandished the harpoon in Ms experi¬
enced hand.

Suddenly a hissing noise was heard, and the dugong dis¬
appeared. The harpoon, although thrown with great force,
had apparently only struck the water.

“Curse it!” exclaimed the Canadian, furiously; “I have
missed it!”

“No,” said I; “the creature is wounded — look at the
blood; but your weapon has not stuck in his body.”

“My harpoon! my harpoonl” cried Ned Land.

The sailors rowed on, and the coxswain made for the float¬
ing barrel. The harpoon regained, we followed in pursuit
of the animal.

The latter came now and then to the surface to breathe.
Its wound had not weakened it, for it shot onwards with
great rapidity.

The boat, rowed by strong arms, flew on its track. Several
times it approached within some few yards, and the Cana-

168 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

dian was ready to strike, but the dugong made off with a

sudden plunge, and it was impossible to reach it

Imagine the passion which excited impatient Ned Land I
He hurled at the unfortunate creature the most energetic ex¬
pletives in the English tongue. For my part, I was only vexed
to see the dugong escape all our attacks.

We pursued it without relaxation for an hour, and I began
to think it would prove difficult to capture, when the ani¬
mal, possessed with the perverse idea of vengeance, of which
he had cause to repent, turned upon the pinnace and as¬
sailed us in its turn.

This manoeuvre did not escape the Canadian.

“Look out I ” he cried.

The coxswain had some words in his outlandish tongue,
doubtless warning the men to keep on their guard.

The dugong came within twenty feet of the boat, stopped,
sniffed the air briskly with its large nostrils (not pierced at
the extremity, but in the upper part of its muzzle). Then
taking a spring he threw himself upon us.

The pinnace could not avoid the' shock, and half upset,
shipped at least two tons of water, which had to be emptied;
but thanks to the coxswain, we caught it sideways, not full
front, so we were not quite overturned. While Ned Land,
clinging to the bows, belaboured the gigantic animal with
blows from his harpoon, the creature’s teeth were buried in
the gunwale, and it lifted the whole thing out of the water,
as a lion does a rowbuck. We were upset over one another,
and I know not how the adventure would have ended if the
Canadian, still enraged with the beast, had not struck it to
the heart.

I heard its teeth grind on the iron plate, and the dugong
disappeared, carrying the harpoon with him. But the barrel
soon returned to the surface, and shortly after the body of
the animal, turned on its back. The boat came up with it,
took it in tow, and made straight for the Nautilus.

It required tackle of enormous strength to hoist the dug¬
ong on to the platform. It weighted 10,000 pounds.

The next day, February 11th, the larder of the Nautilus
was enriched by some more delicate game. A flight of sea-
swallows rested on the Nautilus. It was a species of the
Sterna nilotica, peculiar to Egypt; its beak is black, head
grey and pointed, the eye surrounded by white spots, the

THE ARABIAN TUNNEL

169

back, wings, and tail of a greyish colour, the belly and
throat white, and claws red. They also took some dozen of
Nile ducks, a wild bird of high flavour, its throat and upper
part of the head white with black spots.

About five o’clock in the evening we sighted to the north
the Cape of Ras-Mohammed. This cape forms the extremity
of Arabia Petraea, comprised between the Gulf of Suez and
the Gulf of Acabah.

The Nautilus penetrated into the Straits of Jubal, which
leads to the Gulf of Suez. I distinctly saw a high mountain,
towering between the two gulfs of Ras-Mohammed. It was
Mount Horeb, that Sinai at the top of which Moses saw God
face to face.

At six o’clock the Nautilus, sometimes floating, sometimes
immersed, passed some distance from Tor, situated at the
end of the bay, the waters of which seemed tinted with red,
an observation already made by Captain Nemo. Then night
fell in the midst of a heavy silence, sometimes broken by the
cries of the pelican and other night-birds, and the noise of
the waves breaking upon the shore, chafing against the
rocks, or the panting of some far-off steamer beating the
waters of the gulf with its noisy paddles.

From eight to nine o’clock the Nautilus remained some
fathoms under the water. According to my calculation we
must have been very near Suez. Through the panel of the
saloon I saw the bottom of the rocks brilliantly lit up by our
electric lamp. We seemed to be leaving the straits behind us
more and more. At a quarter-past nine, the vessel having re¬
turned to the surface, I mounted the platform. Most impa¬
tient to pass through Captain Nemo’s tunnel, I could not
stay in one place, so came to breathe the fresh night-air.

Soon in the shadow I saw a pale light, half discoloured by
the fog, shining about a mile from us.

“A floating lighthouse! ” said some one near me.

I turned, and saw the Captain.

“It is the floating light of Suez,” he continued. “It will not
be long before we gain the entrance of the tunnel.”

“The entrance cannot be easy?”

“No, sir; and for that reason I am accustomed to go into
the steersman’s cage, and myself direct our course. And now
if you will go down, M. Aronnax, the Nautilus is going un¬
der the waves, and will not return to the surface until we

170 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

have passed through the Arabian tunnel.”

Captain Nemo led me towards the central staircase; half¬
way down he opened a door, traversed the upper deck, and
landed in the pilot’s cage, which it may be remembered rose
at the extremity of the platform. It was a cabin measuring
six feet square, very much like that occupied by the pilot on
the steamboats of the Mississippi or Hudson. In the midst
worked a wheel, placed vertically, and caught to the tiller-
rope, which ran to the back of the Nautilus. Four light-
ports with lenticular glasses, let in a groove in the parti¬
tion of the cabin, allowed the man at the wheel to see in all
directions.

This cabin was dark; but soon my eyes accustomed them¬
selves to the obscurity, and I perceived the pilot, a strong
man, with his hands resting on the spokes of die wheel. Out¬
side, the sea appeared vividly lit up by the lantern, which
shed its rays from the back of the cabin to the other extrem¬
ity of the platform.

“Now,” said Captain Nemo, “let us try to make our pas¬
sage.”

Electric wires connected the pilot’s cage with the machin¬
ery room, and from there the Captain could communicate
simultaneously to hi s Nautilus the direction and the speed.
He pressed a metal knob, and at once the speed of the screw
diminished.

I looked in silence at the high straight wall we were run¬
ning by at this moment, the immovable base of a massive
sandy coast. We followed it thus for an hour only some few
yards off.

Captain Nemo did not take his eye from the knob, sus¬
pended by its two concentric circles in the cabin. At a sim¬
ple gesture, the pilot modified the course of the Nautilus
every instant.

I had placed myself at the port-scuttle, and saw some
magnificent substructures of coral, zoophytes, seaweed, and
fucus, agitating their enormous claws, which stretched out
from the fissures of the rock.

At a quarter past ten, the captain himself took the helm.
A large gallery, black and deep, opened before us. The Nau¬
tilus went boldly into it. A strange roaring was heard round
its sides. It was the waters of the Red Sea, which the incline
of the tunnel precipitated violently towards the Mediterra-

THE GRECIAN ARCHIPELAGO 171

nean. The Nautilus went with the torrent, rapid as an ar¬
row, in spite of the efforts of the machinery, which, in or¬
der to offer more effective resistance, beat the waves with
reversed screw.

On the walls of the narrow passage I could see nothing
.but brilliant rays, straight lines, furrows of fire, traced by
the great speed, under the brilliant electric light. My heart
beat fast.

At thirty-five minutes past ten, Captain Nemo quitted
the helm; and, turning to me, said —

“The Mediterranean! ”

In less than twenty minutes, the Nautilus, carried along
by the torrent, had passed through the Isthmus of Suez.

6. The Grecian Archipelago

The next day, the 12 th of February, at the dawn of day,
the Nautilus rose to the surface. I hastened on' to the plat¬
form. Three miles to the south the dim outline of Pelusium
was to be seen. A torrent had carried us from one sea to the
other. About seven o’clock Ned and Conseil joined me.

“Well, Sir Naturalist,” said the Canadian, in a slightly jo¬
vial tone, “and the Mediterranean?”

“We are floating on its surface, friend Ned.”

“What! ” said Conseil, “this very night! ”

“Yes, this very night; in a few minutes we have passed
this impassable isthmus.”

“I do not believe it,” replied the Canadian.

“Then you are wrong, Master Land,” I continued; “this
low coast which rounds off to the south is*the Egyptian
coast. And you, who have such good eyes, Ned, you can see
the jetty of Port Said stretching into the sea.”

The Canadian looked attentively.

“Certainly you are right, sir, and your Captain is a first-
rate man. We are in the Mediterranean. Good! Now, if you
please, let us talk of our own little affair, but so that no
one hears us.”

I saw what the Canadian wanted, and, in any case,
•I thought it better to let him talk, as he wished it; so we all
three went and sat down near the lantern, where we were
less exposed to the spray of the blades.

“Now, Ned, we listen; what have you to tell us?”

172 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“What I have to tell you is very simple. We are in Eu¬
rope; and before Captain Nemo’s caprices drag us once more
to the bottom of the Polar Seas, or lead us into Oceania, I
ask to leave the Nautilus

I wished in no way to shackle the liberty of my compan¬
ions, but I certainly felt no desire to leave Captain Nemo.

Thanks to him, and thanks to his apparatus, I was each
day nearer the completion of my submarine studies; and I
was rewriting my book of submarine depths in its very ele¬
ment. Should I ever again have such an opportunity of ob¬
serving the wonders of the ocean? No, certainly not! And I
could not bring myself to the idea of abandoning the Nau¬
tilus before the cycle of investigation was accomplished.

“Friend Ned, answer me frankly, are you tired of being
on board? Are you sorry that destiny has thrown us into
Captain Nemo’s hands?”

The Canadian remained some moments without answer¬
ing. Then crossing his arms, he said —

“Frankly, I do not regret this journey under the seas. I
shall be glad to have made it; but now that it is made, let us
have done with it. That is my idea.”

“It will come to an end, Ned.”

“Where and when?”

“Where I do not know— when I cannot say; or rather, I
suppose it will end when these seas have nothing more to
teach us.”

“Then what do you hope for?” remanded the Canadian.

“That circumstances may occur as well six months hence
as now by which we may and ought to profit.”

“Oh!” said Ned Land, “and where shall we be in six
months, if you please, Sir Naturalist?”

“Perhaps in China; you know the Nautilus is a rapid
traveller. It goes through water as swallows through the
air, or as an express on the land. It does not fear frequented
seas; who can say that it may not beat the coasts of France,
England, or America, on which flight may be attempted as
advantageously as here.”

“M. Aronnax,” replied the Canadian, “your arguments are
rotten at the foundation. You speak in the future, ‘We shall
be there! we shall be here!’ I speak in the present, ‘We
are here, and we must profit by it.’ ”

Ned Land’s logic pressed me hard, and I felt myself beaten

THE GRECIAN ARCHIPELAGO 173

on that ground. I knew not what argument would now tell
in my favour.

“Sir,” continued Ned, “let us suppose an impossibility; if
Captain Nemo should this day offer you your liberty, would
you accept it?”

“I do not know,” I answered.

“And if,” he added, “the offer he made you this day was
never to be renewed, would you accept it?”

“Friend Ned, this is my answer. Your reasoning is against
me. We must not rely on Captain Nemo’s good-will. Com¬
mon prudence forbids him to set us at liberty. On the other
side, prudence bids us profit by the first opportunity
to leave the Nautilus .”

“Well, M. Aronnax, that is wisely said.”

“Only one observation — just one. The occasion must be
serious, and our first attempt must succeed; if it fails, we
shall never find another, and Captain Nemo will never for¬
give us.”

“All that is true,” replied the Canadian. “But your obser¬
vation applies equally to all attempts at flight, whether in
two years’ time, or in two days’. But the question is still
this: If a favourable opportunity presents itself, it must be
seized.”

“Agreed! and now, Ned, will you tell me what you mean
by a favourable opportunity?”

“It will be that which, on a dark night, will bring the
Nautilus a short distance from some European coast.”

“And you will try and save yourself by swimming?”

“Yes, if we were near enough to the bank, and if the ves¬
sel was floating . at that time. Not if the bank was far away,
and the boat was under the water.”

“And in that case?”

“In that case, I should seek to make myself master of
the pinnace. I know how it is worked. We must get in¬
side, and the bolts once drawn, we shall come to the surface
of the water, without even the pilot, who is in the bows, per¬
ceiving our flight.”

“Well, Ned, watch for the opportunity; but do not forget
that a hitch will ruin us.”

“I will not forget, sir.”

“And now, Ned, would you like to know what I think of
your project?”

174 - 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“Certainly, M. Aronnax.”

“Well, I think — I do not say I hope — I think that this fa¬
vourable opportunity will never present itself.”

“Why not?”

“Because Captain Nemo cannot hide from himself that we
have not given up all hope of regaining our liberty, and he
will be on his guard, above all, in the seas, and in the sight
of European coasts.”

“We shall see,” replied Ned Land, shaking his head deter¬
minedly.

“And now, Ned Land,” I added, “let us stop here. Not an¬
other word on the subject. The day that you are ready,
come and let us know, and we will follow you. I rely en¬
tirely upon you.”

Thus ended a conversation which, at no very distant
time, led to such grave results. I must say here that facts
seemed to confirm my foresight,' to the Canadian’s great de¬
spair. Did Captain Nemo distrust us in these frequented
seas? or did he only wish to hide himself from the numerous
vessels, of all nations, which ploughed the Mediterranean?
I could not tell; but we were oftener between waters, and
far from the coast. Or, if the Nautilus did emerge, nothing
was to be seen but the pilot’s cage; and sometimes it went
to great depths, for, between the Grecian Archipelago and
Asia Minor, we could not touch the bottom by more than a
thousand fathoms.

Thus I only knew we were near the Island of Carpathos,
one of the Sporades, by Captain Nemo reciting these lines
from Virgil —

“Est in Carpathio Neptuni gurgite vates,

Cceruleus Proteus

as he pointed to a spot on the planisphere.

It was indeed the ancient abode of Proteus, the old shep¬
herd of Neptune’s flocks, now the Island of Scarpanto, situ¬
ated between Rhodes and Crete. I saw nothing but the gran¬
ite base through the glass panels of the saloon.

The next day, the 14th of February, I resolved to employ
some hours in studying the fishes of the Archipelago; but for
some reason or other, the panels remained hermetically
sealed. Upon taking the course of the Nautilus I found that
we were going towards Candia, the ancient Isle of Crete.

THE GRECIAN ARCHIPELAGO 17S

At the time I embarked on the Abraham Lincoln, the whole
of this island had risen in insurrection against the despo¬
tism of the Turks. But .how the insurgents had fared since
that time I was absolutely ignorant, and it was not Captain
Nemo, deprived of all land communications, who could tell
me.

I made no allusion to this event when that night I found
myself alone with him in the saloon. Besides, he seemed to
be taciturn and preoccupied. Then, contrary to his custom,
he ordered both panels to be opened, and going from one to
the other, observed the mass of waters attentively. To what
end I could not guess; so, on my side, I employed my time
in studying the fish passing before my eyes. .

Amongst others, I remarked some gobies, mentioned by
Aristotle, and commonly known by the name of sea-braches,
which are more particularly met with in the salt waters ly¬
ing near the Delta of the Nile. Near them rolled some sea-
bream, half phosphorescent, a kind of sparus, which the
Egyptians ranked amongst their sacred animals, whose ar¬
rival in the waters of their river announced a fertile over¬
flow, and was celebrated by religious ceremonies. I also no¬
ticed some cheilines about nine inches long, a bony fish
with transparent shell, whose livid colour is mixed with red
spots; they are great eaters of marine vegetation, which
gives them an exquisite flavour. These cheilines were much
sought after by the epicures of ancient Rome; the inside,
dressed with the soft roe of the lamprey, peacocks’ brains
and tongues of the phenicoptera, composed that divine fish
of which Vitellius was so enamoured.

Another inhabitant of these seas drew my attention, and
led my mind back to recollections of antiquity. It was the
remora, that fastens on to the shark’s belly. This little fish,
according to the ancients, hooking on to the ship’s bottom,
could stop its movements; and one of them, by keeping
back Antony’s ship during the battle of Actium, helped
Augustus to gain the victory. On how little hangs the destiny
of nations! I observed some fine anthiae, which belong to
the order of lutjans, a fish held sacred by the Greeks, who at¬
tributed to them the power of hunting the marine monsters
from waters they frequented. Their name signifies flower,
and they justify their appellation by their shaded colours,
their shades comprising the whole gamut of reds, from the

J76 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

paleness of the rose to the brightness of the ruby, and the
fugitive tints that clouded' their dorsal fin. My eyes could
not leave these wonders of the sea, when they were suddenly
struck by an unexpected apparition.

In the midst of the waters a man appeared, a diver, carry¬
ing at his belt a leathern purse. It was not a body abandoned
to the waves; it was a living man, swimming with a strong
hand, disappearing occasionally to take breath at the sur¬
face.

I tinned toward Captain Nemo, and in an agitated voice
exclaimed —

“A man shipwrecked! He must be saved at any price!”

The Captain did not answer me, but came and leaned
against the panel.

The man had approached, and with his face flattened
against the glass, was looking at us.

To my great amazement, Captain Nemo signed to him. The
diver answered with his hand, mounted immediately to the
surface of the water, and did not appear again.

“Do not be uncomfortable,” said Captain Nemo. “It is
Nicholas of Cape Matapan, surnamed Pesca. He is well
known in all the Cyclades. A bold diver! water is his ele¬
ment, and he lives more in it than on land, going continually
from one island to another, even as far as Crete.”

“You know him, Captain?”

“Why not, M. Aronnax?”

Saying which, Captain Nemo went towards a piece of fur¬
niture standing near the left panel of the saloon. Near this
piece of furniture, I saw a chest with iron, on the cover of
which was a copper plate, bearing the cypher of the Nauti¬
lus with its device.

At that moment, the Captain, without noticing my pres¬
ence, opened the piece of furniture, a sort of strong box,
which held a great many ingots.

They were ingots of gold. From whence came this precious
metal, which represented an enormous sum? Where did
the Captain gather this gold from? and what was he going
to do with it?

I did not say one word. I looked. Captain Nemo took the
ingots one by one, and arranged them methodically in the
chest, which he filled entirely. I estimated the contents at

THE GRECIAN ARCHIPELAGO 177

more than 4000 lbs. weight of gold, that is to say, nearly

£200,000.

The chest was securely fastened, and the Captain wrote
an address on the lid, in characters which must have be¬
longed to modern Greece.

This done, Captain Nemo pressed a knob, the wire of
which communicated with the quarters of the crew. Four
men appeared, and, not without some trouble, pushed the
chest out of the saloon. Then I heard them hoisting it up the
iron staircase by means of pulleys.

At that moment, Captain Nemo turned to me.

“And you were saying, sir?” said he.

“I was saying nothing, Captain.”

“Then, sir, if you will allow me, I will wish you good
night.”

Whereupon he turned and left the saloon.

I returned to my room much troubled, as one may believe.
I vainly tried to sleep, — I sought the connecting link be¬
tween the apparition of the diver and the chest filled with
gold. Soon I felt, by certain movements of pitching and toss¬
ing, that the Nautilus was leaving the depths and returning
to the surface.

Then I heard steps upon the platform 1 and I knew they
were unfastening the pinnace, and launching it upon the
waves. For one instant it struck the side of the Nautilus, then
all noise ceased.

Two hours after, the same noise, the same going and com¬
ing was renewed; the boat was hoisted on board, replaced in
its socket, and the Nautilus again plunged under the waves.

So these millions had been transported to their address.
To what point of the Continent? Who was Captain Nemo’s
correspondent?

The next day, I related to Conseil and the Canadian the
events of the night, which had excited my curiosity to the
highest degree. My companions were not less surprised
than myself.

“But where does he take his millions to?” asked Ned
Land.

To that there was no possible answer. I returned to the
saloon after having breakfast, and set to work. Till five
o’clock in the evening, I employed myself in arranging my
notes. At that moment — (ought I to attribute it to some

178 20,d00 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

peculiar idiosyncrasy), — I felt so great a heat that I was
obliged to take off my coat of byssusl It was strange, for we
were not under low latitudes; and even then, the Nautilus,
submerged as it was, ought to experience no change of tem¬
perature. I looked at the manometer; it showed a depth of
sixty feet, to which atmospheric heat could never attain.

I continued my work, but the temperature rose to such a
pitch as to be intolerable.

“Could there be fire on board?” I asked myself.

I was leaving the saloon, when Captain Nemo entered; he
approached the thermometer, consulted it, and turning to
me, said —

“Forty-two degrees.”

“I have noticed it, Captain,” I replied; “and if it gets
much hotter we cannot bear it.”

“Oh! sir, it will not get hotter if we do not wish it.”

“You can reduce it as you please, then?” N

“No; but I can go further from the stove which produces
it.”

“It is outward then! ”

“Certainly; we are floating in a current of boiling water.”

“Is it possible! ” I exclaimed.

“Look.”

The panels opened, and I saw the sea entirely white all
round. A sulphurous smoke was curling amid the waves,
which boiled' like water in a copper. I placed my hand on
one of the panes of glass, but the heat was so great that I
quickly took it off again.

“Where are we?” I asked.

Near the Island of Santorin, sir,” replied the Captain,
“and just in the canal which separates Nea Kamenni from
Pali Kamenni. I wished to give you a sight of the curious
spectacle of a submarine eruption.”

“I thought,” said I, “that the formation of these new is¬
lands was ended.”

“Nothing is ever ended in the volcanic parts of the sea,”
replied Captain Nemo; “and the globe is always being worked
by subterranean fires. Already, in the nineteenth year of our
era, according to Cassiodorus and Pliny, a new island, Theia
(the divine), appeared in the very place where these islets
have recently been formed. Then they sank under the
waves, to rise again in the year 69, when they again sub-

THE GRECIAN ARCHIPELAGO 179

sided. Since that time to our days, the Plutonian work has
been suspended. But, on the 3d of February, 1866, a new
island, which they named George Island, emerged from the
midst of the sulphurous vapor near Nea Kamenni, and set¬
tled again the 6th of the same month. Seven days after, the
13th of February, the island of Aphroessa appeared, leaving
between Nea Kamenni and itself a canal ten yards broad. I
was in these seas when the phenomenon occurred, and I was
able therefore to observe all the different phases. The Island
of Aphroessa, of round form, measured 300 feet in diameter,
and thirty feet in height. It was composed of black and vitre¬
ous lava, mixed with fragments of felspar. And lately, on the
10th of March, a smaller island, called Reka, showed itself
near Nea Kamenni, and since then, these three have
joined together, forming but one and the same island.”

“And the canal in which we are at this moment?” I
asked.

“Here it is,” replied Captain Nemo, showing me a map of
the Archipelago. “You see I have marked the new islands.”

I returned to the glass. The Nautilus was no longer mov¬
ing, the heat was becoming unbearable. The sea, which till
now had been white, was red, owing to the presence of salts
or iron. In spite of the ship’s being hermetically sealed,
an insupportable smell of sulphur filled the saloon, and the
brilliancy of the electricity was entirely extinguished by
bright scarlet flames. I was in a bath, I was choking. I was
broiled.

“We can remain no longer in this boiling water,” said I
to the Captain.

“It would not be prudent,” replied the impassive Captain
Nemo.

An order was given; the Nautilus tacked about and left
the furnace it could not brave with impunity. A quarter of
an hour after we were breathing fresh air on the surface.
The thought then struck me that, if Ned Land had chosen
this part of the sea for our flight, we should never have come
alive out of this sea of fire.

The next day, the 16th of February, we left the basin
which, between Rhodes and Alexandria, is reckoned about
1500 fathoms in depth, and the Nautilus, passing some dis¬
tance from Cerigo, quitted the Grecian Archipelago, after
having doubled Cape Matapan.

7. The Mediterranean in Forty-Eight Hours

The Mediterranean, the blue sea par excellence, “the
great sea” of the Hebrews, “the sea” of the Greeks, the “mare
nostrum” of the Romans, bordered by orange-trees, aloes,
cacti, and sea-pines; embalmed with the perfume of the
myrtle, surrounded by rude mountains, saturated with pure
and transparent air, but incessantly worked by underground
fires, a perfect battlefield in which Neptune and Pluto still
dispute the empire of the world I

It is upon these banks, and on these waters, says Miche¬
let, that man is renewed in one of the most powerful cli¬
mates of the globe. But, beautiful as it was, I could only
take a rapid glance at the basin whose superficial area is two
millions of square yards. Even Captain Nemo’s knowledge
was lost to me, for this enigmatical person did not appear
once during our passage at full speed. I estimated the course
which the Nautilus took under the waves of the sea at about
six hundred leagues, and it was accomplished in forty-eight
hours. Starting on the morning of the 16th of February from
the shores of Greece, we had crossed the Straits of Gibral¬
tar by sunrise on the 18th.

It was plain to me that this Mediterranean, enclosed in
the midst of those countries which he wished to avoid, was
distasteful to Captain Nemo. Those waves and those breezes
brought back too many remembrances, if not too many re¬
grets. Here he had no longer that independence and that
liberty of gait which he had when in the open seas, and his
Nautilus felt itself cramped between the close shores of
Africa and Europe.

Our speed was now twenty-five miles an hour. It may be
well understood that Ned Land, to his great disgust, was
obliged to renounce his intended flight. He could not launch
the pinnace, going at the rate of twelve or thirteen yards
every second. To quit the Nautilus under such conditions
would be as bad as jumping from a train going at full speed
— an imprudent thing, to say the least of it. Besides, our ves¬
sel only mounted to the surface of the waves at night to re¬
new its stock of air; it was steered entirely by the compass
and the log.

I saw no more of the interior of this Mediterranean than
180

THE MEDITERRANEAN IN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS 181

a traveller by express train perceives of the landscape
which flies before his eyes; that is to say, the distant hori¬
zon, and not the nearer objects which pass like a flash of
lightning.

In the midst of the mass of waters brightly lit up by the
electric light, glided some of those lampreys, more than a
yard long, common to almost every climate. Some of the
oxyrhynchi, a kind of ray five feet broad, with white belly
and grey spotted back, spread out like a large shawl carried
along by the current. Other rays passed so quickly that I
could not see if they deserved the name of eagles which was
given to them by the ancient Greeks, or the qualification of
rats, toads, and bats, with which modern fishermen have
loaded them. A few milander sharks, twelve feet long, and
much feared by divers, struggled amongst them. Sea-foxes
eight feet long, endowed with wonderful fineness of scent,
appeared like large blue shadows. Some dorades of the shark
kind, some of which measured seven feet and a half,
showed themselves in their dress of blue and silver, encircled
by small bands which struck sharply against the sombre
tints of their fins, a fish consecrated to Venus, the eyes of
which are encased in a socket of gold, a precious species,
friend of all waters, fresh or salt, an inhabitant of rivers,
lakes, and oceans, living in all climates, and bearing all
temperatures; a race belonging to the geological era of the
earth, and which has preserved all the beauty of its first
days. Magnificent sturgeons, nine or ten yards long, crea¬
tures of great speed, striking the panes of glass with their
strong tails, displayed their bluish backs with small brown
spots; they resemble the sharks, but are not equal to them
in strength, and are to be met with in all seas. But of all the
diverse inhabitants of the Mediterranean, those I observed
to the greatest advantage, when the Nautilus approached
the surface, belonged to the sixty-third genus of bony fish.
They were a kind of tunny, with bluish black backs, and sil¬
very breastplates, whose dorsal fins threw out sparkles of
gold. They are said to follow in the wake of vessels whose
refreshing shade they seek from the fire of a tropical sky,
and they did not belie the saying, for they accompanied
the Nautilus as they did in former times the vessel of La
Perouse. For many a long hour they struggled to keep up with
our vessel. I was never tired of admiring these creatures

182 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

really built for speed, — their small heads, their bodies
lithe and cigar-shaped, which in some were more than three
yards long, their pectoral fins and forked tail endowed with
remarkable strength. They swam in a triangle, like certain
flocks of birds, whose rapidity they equalled, and of which
the ancients used to say that they understood geometry and
strategy. But still they do not escape the pursuit of the Pro¬
vencals, who esteem them as highly as the inhabitants of
the Propontis and of Italy used to do; and these precious,
but blind and foolhardy creatures, perish by millions in the
nets of the Marseillaise.

With regard to the species of fish common to the Atlantic
and the Mediterranean, the giddy speed of the Nautilus
prevented me from observing them with any degree of ac¬
curacy.

As to marine mammals, I thought, in passing the entrance
of the Adriatic, that I saw two or three cachalots, furnished
with one dorsal fin, of the genus phiysetera, some dolphins
of the genus globicephali, peculiar to the Mediterranean,
the back part of the head being marked like a zebra with
small lines; also, a dozen of seals, with white bellies and
black hair, known by the name of monks, and which really
have the air of a Dominican; they are about three yards in
length.

As to zoophytes, for some instants I was able to admire a
beautiful orange galeolaria, which had fastened itself to the
port panel; it held on by a long filament, and was divided
into an infinity of branches, terminated by the finest lace
which could ever have been woven hy the rivals of Arachne
herself. Unfortunately, I could not take this admirable
specimen; and doubtless no other Mediterranean zoophyte
would have offered itself to my observation, if, on the night
of the 16th, the Nautilus had not, singularly enough, slack¬
ened its speed, under the following circumstances.

We were then passing between Sicily and the coast of Tu¬
nis. In the narrow space between Cape Bon and the Straits
of Messina the bottom of the sea rose almost suddenly.
There was a perfect bank, on which there was not more
than nine fathoms of water, whilst on either side the depth
was ninety fathoms.

The Nautilus had to manoeuvre very carefully so as not
to strike against this submarine barrier.

THE MEDITERRANEAN IN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS 183

I showed Conseil, on the map of the Mediterranean, the
spot occupied by this reef.

“But if you please, sir,” observed Conseil, “it is like a real
isthmus joining Europe to Africa.”

“Yes, my boy, it forms a perfect bar to the Straits of
Libya, and the soundings of Smith have proved that in form¬
er times the continents between Cape Boco and Cape Furina
were joined.”

“I can well believe it,” said Conseil.

“I will add,” I continued, “that a similar barrier exists
between Gibraltar and Ceuta, which in geological times
formed the entire Mediterranean.”

“What if some volcanic burst should one day raise these
two barriers above the waves?”

“It is not probable, Conseil.”

“Well, but allow me to finish, please, sir; if this phenome¬
non should take place, it will be troublesome for M. Lesseps,
who has taken so much pains to pierce the isthmus.”

“I agree with you; but I repeat, Conseil, this phenom¬
enon will never happen. The violence of subterranean force
is ever diminishing. Volcanoes, so plentiful in the first days
of the world, are being extinguished by degrees; the in¬
ternal heat is weakened, the temperature of the lower strata
of the globe is lowered by a perceptible quantity every cen¬
tury to the detriment of our globe, for its heat is its life.”

“But the sun?”

“The sun is not sufficient, Conseil. Can it give heat to a
dead body?”

“Well, my friend, this earth will one day be that cold
corpse; it will become uninhabitable and uninhabited like
the moon, which has long since lost all its vital heat.”

“In how many centuries?”

“In some hundreds of thousands of years, my boy.”

“Then,” said Conseil, “we shall have time to finish our
journey, that is, if Ned Land does not interfere with it.”

And Conseil, reassured, returned to the study of the
bank, which the Nautilus was skirting at a moderate speed.

There, beneath the rocky and volcanic bottom, lay out¬
spread a living flora of sponges and reddish cydippes,
which emitted a slight phosphorescent light, commonly
known by the name of sea-Cucumbers, and walking coma-

184 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

tulae more than a yard long, the purple of which completely

coloured the water around.

The Nautilus having now passed the high bank in the
Libyan Straits, returned to the deep waters and its accus¬
tomed speed.

From that time no more molluscs, no more articulates,
no more zoophytes; barely a few large fish passing like
shadows.

During the night of the 16th and 17th February, we had
entered the second Mediterranean basin, the greatest depth
of which was 1450 fathoms. The Nautilus, by the action of
its screw, slid down the inclined planes, and buried itself
in the lowest depths of the sea.

On the 18th of February, about three o’clock in the
morning, we were at the entrance of the Straits of Gibral¬
tar. There once existed two currents: an upper one, long
.since recognised, which conveys the waters of the ocean
into the basin of the Mediterranean; and a lower counter-
current, which reasoning has now shown to exist. Indeed,
the volume of water in the Mediterranean, incessantly
added to by the waves of the Atlantic, and by rivers falling
into it, would each year raise the level of this sea, for its
evaporation is not sufficient to restore the equilibrium. As
it is not so, we must necessarily admit the existence of an
undercurrent, which empties into the basin of the Atlantic,
through the Straits of Gibraltar, the surplus waters of the
Mediterranean. A fact indeed; and it was this counter-
current by which the Nautilus profited. It advanced rap¬
idly by the narrow pass. For one instant I caught a glimpse
of the beautiful ruins of the temple of Hercules, buried
in the ground, according to Pliny, and with the low island
which supports it; and a few minutes later we were floating
on the Atlantic.

8. Vigo Bay

The Atlantic I a vast sheet of water, whose superficial area
covers twenty-five millions of square miles, the length of
which is nine thousand miles, with a mean breadth of two
thousand seven hundred, — an ocean whose parallel wind¬
ing shores embrace an immense circumference, watered by
the largest rivers of the world, the St. Lawrence, the Mis-

VIGO BAY 185

sissippi, the Amazon, the Plata, the Orinoco, the Niger, the
Senegal, the Elbe, the Loire and the Rhine, which carry
water from the most civilised, as well as from the most
savage countries 1 Magnificent field of water, incessantly
ploughed by vessels of every nation, sheltered by the flags
of every nation, and which terminates in those two terrible
points so dreaded by mariners, Cape Horn, and the Cape
of Tempests!

The Nautilus was piercing the water with its sharp spur,
after having accomplished nearly ten thousand leagues in
three months and a half, a distance greater than the great
circle of the earth. Where were we going now? and what
was reserved for the future? The Nautilus, leaving the
Straits of Gibraltar, had gone far out. It returned to the
surface of the waves, and our daily walks on the platform
were restored to us.

I mounted at once, accompanied by Ned Land and Con-
seil. At a distance of about twelve miles, Cape St. Vincent
was dimly to be seen, forming the south-western point of
the Spanish peninsula. A strong southerly gale was blow¬
ing. The sea was swollen and billowy; it made the Nautilus
rock violently. It was almost impossible to keep one’s foot¬
ing on the platform, which the heavy rolls of the sea beat
over every instant. So we descended after inhaling some
mouthfuls of fresh air.

I returned to my room, Conseil to his cabin; but the
Canadian, with a preoccupied air, followed me. Our rapid
passage across the Mediterranean had not allowed him to
put his project into execution, and he could not help show¬
ing his disappointment. When the door of my room was
shut, he sat down and looked at me silently.

“Friend Ned,” said I, “I understand you; but you can¬
not reproach yourself. To have attempted to leave the Nau¬
tilus under the circumstances would have been folly.”

Ned Land did not answer; his compressed lips, and
frowning brow, showed with him the violent possession this
fixed idea had taken of his mind.

“Let us see,” I continued; “we need not despair yet. We
are going up the coast of Portugal again; France and Eng¬
land are not far off, where we can easily find refuge. Now,
if the Nautilus, on leaving the Straits of Gibraltar, had
gone to the south, if it had carried us towards regions where

186 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

there were no continents, I should share your uneasiness.

But we know now that Captain Nemo does not fly from

civilised seas, and in some days I think you can act with

security.”

Ned Land still looked at me fixedly, at length his fixed
lips parted, and he said, “It is for tonight.”

I drew myself up suddenly. I was, I admit, little pre¬
pared for this communication. I wanted to answer the Cana¬
dian, but words would not come.

“We agreed to wait for an opportunity,” continued Ned
Land, “and the opportunity has arrived. This night we
shall be but a few miles from the Spanish coast. It is
cloudy. The wind blows freely. I have your word, M. Aron-
nax, and I rely upon you.”

As I was still silent, the Canadian approached me.

“Tonight, at nine o’clock,” said he. “I have warned Con-
seil. At that moment, Captain Nemo will be shut up in his
room, probably in bed. Neither the engineers nor the ship’s
crew can see us. Conseil and I will gain the central stair¬
case, and you, M. Aronnax, will remain in the library, two
steps from us, waiting my signal. The oars, the mast, and
the sail, are in the canoe. I have even succeeded in getting
in some provisions. I have procured an English wrench, to
unfasten the bolts which attach it to the shell of the Nau¬
tilus. So all is ready, till tonight.”

“The sea is bad.”

“That I allow,” replied the Canadian; “but we must risk
that. Liberty is worth paying for; besides, the boat is
strong, and a few miles with a fair wind to carry us, is no
great thing. Who knows but by tomorrow we may be a hun¬
dred leagues away? Let circumstances only favour us, and
by ten or eleven o’clock we shall have landed on some spot
of terra firrna, alive or dead. But adieu now till tonight.”

With these words the Canadian withdrew, leaving me
almost dumb. I had imagined that, the chance gone, I
should have time to reflect and discuss the matter. My ob¬
stinate companion had given me no time; and, after all,
what could I have said to him? Ned Land was perfectly
right. There was almost the opportunity to profit by. Could
I retract my word, and take upon myself the responsibility
of compromising the future of my companions? Tomorrow
Captain Nemo might take us far from all land.

VIGO BAY

187

At that moment a rather loud hissing told me that the
reservoirs were filling, and that the Nautilus was sinking
under the waves of the Atlantic.

A sad day I passed, between the desire of regaining my
liberty of action, and of abandoning the wonderful Nauti¬
lus, and leaving my submarine studies incomplete.

What dreadful hours I passed thusl sometimes seeing
myself and companions safely landed, sometimes wishing,
in spite of my reason, that some unforeseen circumstances
would prevent the realisation of Ned Land’s project.

Twice I went to the saloon. I wished to consult the com¬
pass. I wished to see if the direction the Nautilus was tak¬
ing was bringing us nearer or taking us farther from the
coast. But no; the Nautilus kept in Portuguese waters.

I must therefore take my part, and prepare for flight. My
luggage was not heavy; my notes, nothing more.

As to Captain Nemo, I asked myself what he would
think of our escape; what trouble, what wrong it might
cause him, and what he might do in case of its discovery or
failure. Certainly I had no cause to complain of him; on
the contrary, never was hospitality freer than his. In leav¬
ing him I could not be taxed with ingratitude. No oath
bound us to him. It was on the strength of circumstances
he relied, and not upon our word, to fix us for ever.

I had not seen the Captain since our visit to the Island -
of Santorin. Would chance bring me to his presence before
our departure? I wished it, and I feared it at the same
time. I listened if I could hear him walking in the room
contiguous to mine. No sound reached my ear. I felt an
unbearable uneasiness. This day of waiting seemed eternal.
Hours struck too slowly to keep pace with my impatience.

My dinner was served in my room as usual. I ate but lit¬
tle, I was too preoccupied. I left the table at seven o’clock.

A hundred and twenty minutes (I counted them) still sep¬
arated me from the moment in which I was to join Ned
Land. My agitation redoubled. My pulse beat violently. I
could not remain quiet. I went and came, hoping to calm
my troubled spirit by constant movement. The idea of
failure in our bold enterprise was the least painful of my
anxieties; but the thought of seeing our project discovered
before leaving the Nautilus, of being brought before Cap¬
tain Nemo, irritated, or (what was worse) saddened at my

188 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

desertion, made my heart beat.

I wanted to see the saloon for the last time. I descended
the stairs, and arrived in the museum where I had passed
so many useful and agreeable hours. I looked at all its
riches, all its treasures, like a man on the eve of an eternal
exile, who was leaving never to return. These wonders of
Nature, these masterpieces of Art, amongst which, for so
many days, my life had been concentrated, I was going to
abandon them for ever I I should like to have taken a last
look through the windows of the saloon into the waters of
the Atlantic: but the panels were hermetically closed, and
a cloak of steel separated me from that ocean which I had
not yet explored.

In passing through the saloon, I came near the door, let
into the angle, which opened into the Captain’s room. To
my great surprise, this door stood ajar. I drew back, invol¬
untarily. If Captain Nemo should be in his room, he could
see me. But, hearing no noise, I drew nearer. The room was
deserted. I pushed open the door, and took some steps for¬
ward. Still the same monk-like severity of aspect.

Suddenly the clock struck eight. The first beat of the
hammer on the bell awoke me from my dreams. I trembled
as if an invisible eye had plunged into my most secret
thoughts, and I hurried from the room.

There my eye fell upon the compass. Our course was still
north. The log indicated moderate speed, the manometer a
depth of about sixty feet.

I returned to my room, clothed myself warmly — sea
boots, an otterskin cap, a great coat of byssus, lined with
sealskin; I was ready, I was waiting. The vibration of the
screw alone broke the deep silence which reigned on board.
I listened attentively. Would no loud voice suddenly inform
me that Ned Land had been surprised in his projected
flight? A mortal dread hung over me, and I vainly tried to
regain my accustomed coolness.

At a few minutes to nine, I put my ear to the Captain’s
door. No noise. I left my room and returned to the saloon,
which was half in obscurity, but deserted.

I opened the door communicating with the library. The
same insufficient light, the same solitude. I placed myself
near the door leading to the central staircase, and there
waited for Ned Land’s signal.

VIGO BAY 189

At that moment the trembling of the screw sensibly di¬
minished, then it stopped entirely. The silence was now
only disturbed by the beatings of my own heart. Suddenly
a slight shock was felt; and I knew that the Nautilus had
stopped at the bottom of the ocean. My uneasiness in¬
creased. The Canadian’s signal did not come. I felt inclined
to join Ned Land and beg of him to put off his attempt.
I felt that we were not sailing under our usual conditions.

At this moment the door of the large saloon opened, and
Captain Nemo appeared. He saw me, and, without further
preamble, began in an amiable tone of voice —

“Ah, sir! I have been looking for you. Do you know the
history of Spain?” -

Now, one might know the history of one’s own country
by heart; but in the condition I was at the time, with trou¬
bled mind and head quite lost, I could not have said a word
of it.

“Well,” continued Captain Nemo, “you heard my ques¬
tion? Do you know the history of Spain?”

“Very slightly,” I answered.

“Well, here are learned men having to learn,” said the
Captain. “Come, sit down, and I will tell you a curious
episode in this history. Sir, listen well,” said he; “this his¬
tory will interest you on one side, for it will answer a ques¬
tion which doubtless you have not been able to solve.”

“I listen, Captain,” said I, not knowing what my inter¬
locutor was driving at, and asking myself if this incident
was bearing on our projected flight.

“Sir, if you have no objection, we will go back to 1702.
You cannot be ignorant that your king, Louis XIV., think¬
ing that the gesture of a potentate was sufficient to bring
the Pyreenes under his yoke, had imposed the Duke of An¬
jou, his grandson, on the Spaniards. This prince reigned
more or less badly under the name of Philip V., and had a
strong party against him abroad. Indeed, the preceding
year, the royal houses of Holland, Austria, and England,
had concluded a treaty of alliance at The Hague, with the
intention of plucking the crown of Spain from the head of
Philip V., and placing it on that of an archduke to whom
they prematurely gave the title of Charles III.

“Spain must resist this coalition; but she was almost en¬
tirely unprovided with either soldiers or sailors. However,

190 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

money would not fail them, provided that their galleons,
laden with gold and silver from America, once entered their
ports. And about the end of 1702 they expected a rich
convoy which France was escorting with a fleet of twenty-
three vessels, commanded by Admiral Chateau-Renaud,
for the ships of the coalition were already beating the At¬
lantic. This convoy was to go to Cadiz, but the Admiral,
hearing that an English fleet was cruising in those waters,
resolved to make for a French port.

“The Spanish commanders of the convoy objected to this
decision. They wanted to be taken to a Spanish port, and if
not to Cadiz, into Vigo Bay, situated on the north-west
coast of Spain, and which was not blocked.

“Admiral Chateau-Renaud had the rashness to obey this
injunction, and the galleons entered Vigo Bay.

“Unfortunately, it formed an open road which could not
be defended in any way. They must therefore hasten to un¬
load the galleons before the arrival of the combined fleet;
and time would not have failed them had not a miserable
question of rivalry suddenly arisen.

“You are following the chain of events?” asked Captain
Nemo.

“Perfectly,” said I, not knowing the end proposed by
this historical lesson.

“I will continue. This is what passed. The merchants of
Cadiz had a privilege by which they had the right of re¬
ceiving all merchandise coming from the West Indies. Now,
to disembark these ingots at the port of Vigo, was depriv¬
ing them of their rights. They complained at Madrid, and
obtained the consent of the weak-minded Philip that the
convoy, without discharging its cargo, should remain se¬
questered in the roads of Vigo until the enemy had disap¬
peared.

“But whilst coming to this decision, on the 22d of Octo¬
ber, 1702, the English vessels arrived in Vigo Bay, when
Admiral Chateau-Renaud, in spite of inferior forces, fought
bravely. But seeing that the treasure must fall into the en¬
emy’s hands, he burnt and scuttled every galleon, which
went to the bottom with their immense riches.”

Captain Nemo stopped. I admit I could not yet see why
this history should interest me.

“Well?” I asked.

VIGO BAY

191

“Well, M. Aronnax,” replied Captain Nemo, “we are in
that Vigo Bay; and it rests with yourself whether you will
penetrate its mysteries.”

The captain rose, telling me to follow him. I had had
time to recover. I obeyed. The saloon was dark, but through
the transparent glass the waves were sparkling. I looked.

For half a mile around the Nautilus, the waters seemed
bathed in electric light. The sandy bottom was clean and
bright. Some of the ship’s crew in their diving dresses were
clearing away half rotten barrels and empty cases from the
midst of the blackened wrecks. From these cases and from
these barrels escaped ingots of gold and silver, cascades of
piastres and jewels. The sand was heaped up with them.
Laden with their precious booty the men returned to the
Nautilus, disposed of their burden, and went back to this
inexhaustible fishery of gold and silver.

I understood now. This was the scene of the battle of the
2d of October, 1702. Here on this very spot the galleons
laden for the Spanish Government had sunk. Here Captain
Nemo came, according to his wants, to pack up those mil¬
lions with which he burdened the Nautilus. It was for him
and him alone America had given up her precious metals.
He was heir direct, without any one to share, in those treas¬
ures torn from the Incas and from the conquered of Ferdi¬
nand Cortez.

“Did you know, sir,” he asked, smiling, “that the sea
contained such riches?”

“I knew,” I answered, “that they value the money held
in suspension in these waters at two millions.”

“Doubtless; but to extract this money the expense would
be greater than the profit. Here, on the contrary, I have but
to pick up what man has lost, — and not only in Vigo Bay,
but in a thousand other spots where shipwrecks have hap¬
pened, and which are marked on my submarine map. Can
you understand now the source of the millions I am
worth?”

“I understand, Captain. But allow me to tell you that in
exploring Vigo Bay you have only been beforehand with a
rival society.”

“And which?”

“A society which has received from the Spanish Govern¬
ment the privilege of seeking these buried galleons. The

192 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

shareholders are led on by the allurement of an enormous
bounty, for they value these rich shipwrecks at five hun¬
dred millions.”

“Five hundred millions they were,” answered Captain
Nemo, “but they are so no longer.”

“Just so,” said I; “and a warning to those shareholders
would be an act of charity. But who knows if it would be
well received? What gamblers usually regret above all is
less the loss of their money, than of their foolish hopes. Af¬
ter all, I pity them less than the thousands of unfortunates
to whom so much riches well-distributed would have been
profitable, whilst for them they will be for ever barren.”

I had no sooner expressed this regret, than I felt that it
must have wounded Captain Nemo.

“Barren!” he exclaimed, with animation. “Do you think
then, sir, that these riches are lost because I gather them?

Is it for myself alone, according to your idea, that I take
the trouble to collect these treasures? Who told you that I
did not make a good use of it? Do you think I am ignorant
that there are suffering beings and oppressed races on this
earth, miserable creatures to console, victims to avenge?
Do you not understand?”

Captain Nemo stopped at these last words, regretting per¬
haps that he had spoken so much. But I had guessed that
whatever the motive which had forced him to seek inde¬
pendence under the sea, it had left him still a man, that his
heart still beat for the sufferings of humanity, and that his
immense charity was for oppressed races as well as individ¬
uals. And I then understood for whom those millions were
destined, which were forwarded by Captain Nemo when
the Nautilus was cruising in the waters of Crete.

9. A Vanished Continent

The next morning, the 19th of February, I saw the Cana¬
dian enter my room. I expected this visit. He looked very -
disappointed.

“Well, sir?” said he.

“Well, Ned, fortune was against us yesterday.”

“Yes; that Captain must needs stop exactly at the hour
we intended leaving his vessel.”

“Yes, Ned, he had business at his banker’s.”

A VANISHED CONTINENT 193

“His banker’s I”

“Or rather his banking-house; by that I mean the ocean,
where his riches are safer than in the chests of the State.”

I then related to the Canadian the incidents of the pre¬
ceding night, hoping to bring him back to the idea of not
abandoning the Captain; but my recital had no other re¬
sult than an energetically expressed regret from Ned, that
he had not been able to take a walk on the battlefield of
Vigo on his own account.

“However,” said he, “all is not ended. It is only a blow
of the harpoon lost. Another time we must succeed; and to¬
night, if necessary - ” "

“In what direction is the Nautilus going?” I asked.

“I do not know,” replied Ned.

“Well, at noon we shall see the point.”

The Canadian returned to Conseil. As soon as I was
dressed, I went into the saloon. The compass was not re¬
assuring. The course of the Nautilus was S.S.W. We were
turning our backs on Europe.

I waited with some impatience till the ship’s place was
pricked on the chart. At about half-past eleven the reser¬
voirs were emptied, and our vessel rose to the surface of
the ocean. I rushed towards the platform. Ned Land had
preceded me. No more land in sight. Nothing but an im¬
mense sea. Some sails on the horizon, doubtless those going
to San Roque in. search of favourable winds for doubling
the Cape of Good Hope. The weather was cloudy. A gale
of wind was preparing. Ned raved, and tried to pierce the
cloudy horizon. He still hoped that behind all that fog
stretched the land he so longed for.

At noon the sun showed itself for an instant. The second
profited by this brightness to take its height. Then the sea
becoming more billowy, we descended, and the panel
closed.

An hour after, upon consulting the chart, I saw the posi¬
tion of the Nautilus was marked at 16° 17' longitude, and
33° 22' latitude, at ISO leagues from the nearest coast.
There was no means of flight, and I leave you to imagine
the rage of the Canadian, when I informed him of our situ¬
ation.

For myself, I was not particularly sorry. I felt lightened
of the load which had oppressed me, and was able to re-

194 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

turn with some degree of calmness to my accustomed work.

That night, about eleven o’clock, I received a most un¬
expected visit from Captain Nemo. He asked me very gra¬
ciously if I felt fatigued from my watch of the preceding
night. I answered in the negative.

“Then, M. Aronnax, I propose a curious excursion.”

“Propose, Captain?”

“You have hitherto only visited the submarine depths by
daylight, under the brightness of the sun. Would it suit
you to see them in the darkness of the night?”

“Most willingly.”

“I warn you, the way will be tiring. We shall have far to
walk, and must climb a mountain. The roads are not well
kept.”

“What you say, Captain, only heightens my curiosity; I
am ready to follow you.”

“Come then, sir, we will put on our diving dresses.”

Arrived at the robing-room, I saw that neither of my com¬
panions nor any of the ship’s crew were to follow us on
this excursion. Captain Nemo had not even proposed my
taking with me either Ned or Conseil.

In a few moments we had put on our diving dresses; they
placed on our backs the reservoirs, abundantly filled with
air, but no electric lamps were prepared. I called the Cap¬
tain’s attention to the fact.,

“They will be useless,” he replied.

I thought I had not heard aright, but I could not repeat
my observation, for the Captain’s head had already disap¬
peared in its metal case. I finished harnessing myself, I
felt them put an iron-pointed stick into my hand, and some
minutes later, after going through the usual form, we set
foot on the bottom of the Atlantic, at a depth of ISO fath¬
oms. Midnight was near. The waters were profoundly dark,
but Captain Nemo pointed out in the distance a reddish
spot, a sort of large light shining brilliantly, about two
miles from the Nautilus. What this fire might be, what
could feed it, why and how it lit up the liquid mass, I could
not say. In any case, it did light our way, vaguely, it is
true, but I soon accustomed myself to the peculiar dark¬
ness, and I understood, under such circumstances, the use¬
lessness of the Ruhmkorff apparatus.

A VANISHED CONTINENT 19S

As we advanced, I heard a kind of pattering above my
head. The noise redoubling, sometimes producing a con¬
tinual shower, I soon understood the cause. It was rain
falling violently, and crisping the surface of the waves. In¬
stinctively the thought flashed across my mind that I
should be wet through! By the water! In the midst of the
water! I could not help laughing at the odd idea. But, in¬
deed, in the thick diving dress, the liquid element is no
longer felt, and one only seems to be in an atmosphere
somewhat denser than the terrestrial atmosphere. Nothing
more.

After half an hour’s walk the soil became stony. Me¬
dusae, microscopic Crustacea, and pennatules lit it slightly
with their phosphorescent gleam. I caught a glimpse of
pieces of stone covered with millions of zoophytes, and
masses of seaweed. My feet often slipped upon this viscous
carpet of seaweed, and without my iron-tipped stick I
should have fallen more than once. In turning round, I
could still see the whitish lantern of the Nautilus beginning
to pale in the distance.

But the rosy light which guided us increased and lit up
the horizon. The presence of this fire under water puzzled
me in the highest degree. Was it some electric effulgence?
Was I going towards a natural phenomenon as yet un¬
known to the savants of the earth? Or even (for this
thought crossed my brain) had the hand of man aught to
do with this conflagration? Had he fanned this flame? Was
I to meet in these depths companions and friends of Cap¬
tain Nemo whom he was going to visit, and who, like him,
led this strange existence? Should I find down there a
whole colony of exiles, who, weary of the miseries of this
earth, had sought and found independence in the deep
ocean? All these foolish -and unreasonable ideas pursued
me. And in this condition of mind, over-excited by the suc¬
cession of wonders continually passing before my eyes, I
should not have been surprised to meet at the bottom of
the sea one of those submarine towns of which Captain
Nemo dreamed.

Our road grew lighter and lighter. The white glimmer
came in rays from the summit of a mountain about 800
feet high. But what I saw was simply a reflection, devel-

196 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

oped by the clearness of the waters. The source of this in¬
explicable light was a fire on the opposite side of the moun¬
tain.

In the midst of this stony maze, furrowing the bottom of
the Atlantic, Captain Nemo advanced without hesitation.
He knew this dreary road. Doubtless he had often trav¬
elled over it, and could not lose himself. I followed him
with unshaken confidence. He seemed to me like a genie of
the sea; and, as he walked before me, I could not help ad¬
miring his stature, which was outlined in black on the lu¬
minous horizon.

It was one in the morning when we arrived at the first
slopes of the mountain; but to gain access to them we must
venture through the difficult paths of a vast copse.

Yes; a copse of dead trees, without leaves, without sap,
trees petrified by the action of the water, and here and
there overtopped by gigantic pines. It was like a coal pit,
still standing, holding by the. roots to the broken soil, and
whose branches, like fine black paper cuttings, showed dis¬
tinctly on the watery ceiling. Picture to yourself a forest in
the Hartz, hanging on to the sides of the mountain, but a
forest swallowed up. The paths were encumbered with sea¬
weed and fucus, between which grovelled a whole world of
Crustacea. I went along, climbing the rocks, striding over
extended trunks, breaking the sea-bind weed, which hung
from one tree to the other; and frightening the fishes, which
flew from branch to branch. Pressing onward, I felt no fa¬
tigue. I followed my guide, who was never tired. What a
spectacle 1 how can I express it? how paint the aspect of
those woods and rocks in this medium, — their under parts
dark and wild, the upper coloured with red tints, by that
light which the reflecting powers of the waters doubled?
We climbed rocks, which fell directly after with gigantic
bounds and the low growling of an avalanche. To right and
left ran long, dark galleries, where sight was lost Here
opened vast glades which the hand of man seemed to have
worked; and I sometimes asked myself if some inhabitants
of these submarine regions would not suddenly appear to
me.

But Captain Nemo was still mounting. I could not stay
behind. I followed boldly. My stick gave me good help. A
false step would have been dangerous on the narrow passes

A VANISHED CONTINENT 197

sloping down to the sides of the gulfs; but I walked with
firm step, without feeling any giddiness. Now I jumped a
crevice the depth of which would have made me hesitate
had it been among the glaciers on the land; now I ventured
on the unsteady trunk of a tree, thrown across from one
abyss to the other, without looking under my feet, having
only eyes to admire the wild sites of this region.

There, monumental rocks, leaning on their regularly cut
bases, seemed to defy all laws of equilibrium. From be¬
tween their stony knees, trees sprang, like a jet under heavy
pressure, and upheld others which upheld them. Natural
towers, large scarps, cut perpendicularly, like a “curtain,”
inclined at an angle which the laws of gravitation could
never have tolerated in terrestrial regions.

Two hours after quitting the Nautilus, we had crossed
the line of trees, and a hundred feet above our heads rose
the top- of the mountain, which cast a shadow on the bril¬
liant irradiation of the opposite slope. Some petrified
shrubs ran fantastically here and there. Fishes got up un¬
der our feet like birds in the long grass. The massive rocks
were rent with impenetrable fractures, deep grottoes and
unfathomable holes, at the bottom of which formidable
creatures might be heard moving. My blood curdled when
I saw enormous antennae blocking my road, or some fright¬
ful claw closing with a noise in the shadow of some cavity.
Millions of luminous spots shone brightly in the midst of
the darkness. They were the eyes of giant Crustacea
crouched in their holes; giant lobsters setting themselves
up like halberdiers, and moving their claws with the click¬
ing sound of pincers; titanic crabs, pointed like a gun on
its carriage; and frightful looking poulps, interweaving
their tentacles like a living nest of serpents.

We had now arrived on the first platform, where other
surprises awaited me. Before us lay some picturesque ruins,
which betrayed the hand of man, and not that of the Crea¬
tor. There were vast heaps of stone, amongst which might
be traced the vague and shadowy forms of castles and tem¬
ples, clothed with a world of blossoming zoophytes, and
over which, instead of ivy, seaweed and fucus threw a thick
vegetable mantle. But what was this portion of the globe
which had been swallowed by cataclysms? Who had placed
those rocks and stones like cromlechs of pre-historic times?

198 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

Where was I? Whither had Captain Nemo’s fancy hurried

me?

I would fain have asked him; not being able to, I stopped
him — I seized his arm. But shaking his head, and pointing
to the highest point of the mountain, he seemed to say —

“Come, come along; come higher 1”

I followed, and in a few minutes I had climbed to the
top, which for a circle of ten yards commanded the whole
mass of rock.

I looked down the side we had just climbed. The moun¬
tain did not rise more than seven or eight hundred feet
above the level of the plain; but on the opposite side it
commanded from twice that height the depths of this part
of the Atlantic. My eyes ranged far over a large space lit
by a violent fulguration. In fact, the mountain was a vol¬
cano.

At fifty feet above the peak, in the midst of a rain of
stones and scoria, a large crater was vomiting forth tor¬
rents of lava which fell in a cascade of fire into the bosom
of the liquid mass. Thus situated, this volcano lit the lower
plain like an immense torch, even to the extreme limits of
the horizon. I said that the submarine crater threw up lava,
but no flames. Flames require the oxygen of the air to feed
upon, and cannot be developed under water; but streams
of lava, having in themselves the principles of their incan¬
descence, can attain a white heat, fight vigorously against
the liquid element, and turn it to vapour by contact.

Rapid- currents bearing all these gases in diffusion, and
torrents of lava, slid to the bottom of the mountain like an
eruption of Vesuvius on another Torre del Greco.

There, indeed, under my eyes, ruined, destroyed, lay a
town, — its roofs open to the sky, its temples fallen, its
arches dislocated, its columns lying on the ground, from
which one could still recognise the massive character of
Tuscan architecture. Further on, some remains of a gigan¬
tic aqueduct; here the high base of an Acropolis, with the
floating outline of a Parthenon; there traces of quay, as if
an ancient port had formerly abutted on the borders of the
ocean, and disappeared with its merchant vessels and its
war-galleys. Further on again, long lines of sunken walls
and broad deserted streets — a perfect Pompeii escaped be¬
neath the waters. Such was the sight that Captain Nemo

A VANISHED CONTINENT 199

brought before my eyes!

Where was I? Where was I? I must know, at any cost.
I tried to speak, but Captain Nemo stopped me by a ges¬
ture, and picking up a piece of chalk stone, advanced to a
rock of black basalt, and traced the one word —

ATLANTIS

What a light shot through my mind! Atlantis, the an¬
cient Meropis of Theopompus, the Atlantis of Plato, that
continent denied by Origen, Jamblichus, D’Anville, Malte-
Brun, and Humboldt, who placed its disappearance
amongst the legendary tales admitted by Posidonius, Pliny,
Ammianus, Marcellinus, Tertullian, Engel, Buffon, and
D’Avezac. I had it there now before my eyes, bearing
upon it the unexceptionable testimony of its catastrophe.
The region thus engulfed was beyond Europe, Asia, and
Libya, beyond the columns of Hercules, where those power¬
ful people, the Atlantides, lived, against whom the first
wars of ancient Greece were waged.

Thus, led by the strangest destiny, I was treading under
foot the mountains of this continent, touching with my
hand those ruins a thousand generations old, and contem¬
porary with the geological epochs. I was walking on the
very spot where the contemporaries of the first man had
walked.

Whilst I was trying to fix in my mind every detail of this
grand landscape, Captain Nemo remained motionless, as if
petrified in mute ecstasy, leaning on a mossy stone. Was he
dreaming of those generations long since disappeared? Was
he asking them the secret of human destiny? Was it here
this strange man came to steep himself in historical recol¬
lections, and live again this ancient life, — he who wanted
no modern one? What would I not have given to know his
thoughts, to share them, to understand them! We remained
for an hour at this place, contemplating the vast plain un¬
der the brightness of the lava, which was sometimes won¬
derfully intense. Rapid tremblings ran along the moun¬
tains caused by internal bubblings, deep noises distinctly
transmitted through the liquid medium were echoed with
majestic grandeur. At this moment the moon appeared
through the mass of waters, and threw her pale rays on
the buried continent. It was but a gleam, but what an in-

200 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

describable effect 1 The Captain rose, cast one last look on
the immense plain, and then bade me follow him.

We descended the' mountain rapidly, and the mineral
forest once passed, I saw the lantern of the Nautilus shin¬
ing like a star. The Captain walked straight to it, and we
got on board as the first rays of light whitened the surface
of the ocean.

10. The Submarine Coal Mines

The next day, the 20th of February, I awoke very late:
the fatigues of the previous night had prolonged my sleep
until eleven o’clock. I dressed quickly, and hastened to find
the course the Nautilus was taking. The instruments
showed it to be still towards the south, with a speed of
twenty miles an hour, and a depth of fifty fathoms.

The species of fishes here did not differ much from those
already noticed. There were rays of giant size, five yards
long, and endowed with great muscular strength, which en¬
abled them to shoot above the waves; sharks of many
kinds, amongst others, a glaucus of fifteen feet long, with
triangular sharp teeth, and whose transparency rendered it
almost invisible in the water; brown sagrae, humantins,
prism-shaped, and clad with a tuberculous hide; sturgeons,
resembling their congeners of the Mediterranean; trumpet
syngnathes, a foot and a half long, furnished with greyish
bladders, without teeth or tongue, and as supple as snakes.

Amongst bony fish, Conseil noticed some blackish ma-
kairas, about three yards long, armed at the upper jaw
with a piercing sword; other -bright coloured creatures,
known in the time of Aristotle by the name of the sea-
dragon, which are dangerous to capture on account of the
spikes on their back; also some coryphaenes, with brown
backs marked with little blue stripes, and surrounded with
a gold border; some beautiful dorades; and swordfish four-
and-twenty feet long, swimming in troops, fierce animals,
but rather herbivorous than carnivorous.

About four o’clock, the soil, generally composed of a
thick mud mixed with petrified wood, changed by degrees,
and it became more stony, and seemed strewn with con¬
glomerate and pieces of basalt, with a sprinkling of lava

THE SUBMARINE COAL MINES 201

and sulphurous obsidian. I thought that a mountainous re¬
gion was succeeding the long plains; and accordingly, after
a few evolutions of the Nautilus, I saw the southerly hori¬
zon blocked by a high wall which seemed to close all exits.
Its summit evidently passed the level of the ocean. It must
be a continent, or at least an island, — one of the Canaries,
or of the Cape Verde Islands. The bearings not being yet
taken, perhaps designedly I was ignorant of our exact po¬
sition. In any case, such a wall seemed to me to mark the
limits of that Atlantis, of which we had in reality passed
over only the smallest part.

Much longer should I have remained at the window, ad¬
miring the beauties of sea and sky, but the panels closed.
At this moment the Nautilus arrived at the side of this
high perpendicular wall. What it would do, I could not
guess. I returned to my room; it no longer moved. I laid
myself down with the full intention of waking after a few
hours’ sleep; but it was eight o’clock the next morning
when I entered the saloon. I looked at the manometer. It
told me that the Nautilus was floating on the surface of
the ocean. Besides, I heard steps on the platform. I went to
the panel. It was open; but, instead of broad daylight, as
I expected, I was surrounded by profound darkness. Where
were we? Was I mistaken? Was it still night? No; not a
star was shining, and night has not that utter darkness.

I knew not what to think, when a voice near me said —

“Is that you, Professor?”

“Ah! Captain,” I answered, “where are we?”

“Under ground, sir.”

“Under ground!” I exclaimed. “And the Nautilus float¬
ing still?”

“It always floats.”

“But I do not understand.”

“Wait a few minutes, our lantern will be lit, and if you
like light places, you will be satisfied.”

I stood on the platform and waited. The darkness was so
complete that I could not even see Captain Nemo; but look¬
ing to the zenith, exactly above my head, I seemed to catch
an undecided gleam, a kind of twilight filling a circular
hole. At this instant the lantern was lit, and its vividness
dispelled the faint light. I closed my dazzled eyes for an
instant, and then looked again. The Nautilus was station-

202 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

ary, floating near a mountain which formed a sort of quay.
The lake then supporting it was a lake imprisoned by a
circle of walls, measuring two miles in diameter, and six in
circumference. Its level (the manometer showed) could
only be the same as the outside level, for there must neces¬
sarily be a communication between the lake and the sea.
The high partitions, leaning forward on their base, grew
into a vaulted roof bearing the shape of an immense funnel
turned upside down, the height being about five or six
hundred yards. At the summit was a circular orifice, by
which I had caught the slight gleam of light, evidently day¬
light.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“In the very heart of an extinct volcano, the interior of
which has been invaded by the sea, after some great con¬
vulsion of the earth. Whilst you were sleeping, Professor,
the Nautilus penetrated to this lagoon by a natural canal,
which opens about ten yards beneath the surface of the
ocean. This is its harbour of refuge, a sure, commodious,
and mysterious one, sheltered from all gales. Show me, if
you can, on the coasts of any of your continents or islands,
a road which can give such perfect refuge from all storms.”

“Certainly,” I replied, “you are in safety here, Captain
Nemo. Who could reach you in the heart of a volcano?
But did I not see an opening at its summit?”

“Yes; its crater, formerly filled with lava, vapour, and
flames, and which now gives entrance to the life-giving air
we breathe.”

“But what is this volcanic mountain?”

“It belongs to one of the numerous islands with which
this sea is strewn, — to vessels a simple sandbank, — to us an
immense cavern. Chance led me to discover it, and chance
served me well.”

“But of what use is this refuge, Captain? The Nautilus
wants no port.”

“No, sir; but it wants electricity to make it move, and
the wherewithal to make the electricity — sodium to feed
the elements, coal from which to get the sodium, and a
coal-mine to supply the coal. And exactly on this spot the
sea covers entire forests embedded during the geological
periods, now mineralised, and transformed into coal; for me
they are an inexhaustible mine.”

THE SUBMARINE COAL MINES 203

“Your men follow the trade of miners here, then, Cap¬
tain?”

“Exactly so. These mines extend under the waves like
the mines of Newcastle. Here, in their diving dresses, pick¬
axe and shovel in hand, my men extract the coal, which I
do not even ask from the mines of the earth. When I burn
this combustible for the manufacture of sodium, the smoke,
escaping from the crater of the mountain, gives it the ap¬
pearance of a still active volcano.”

“And we shall see your companions at work?”

“No; not this time at least; for I am in a hurry to con¬
tinue our submarine tour of the earth. So I shall content
myself with drawing from the reserve of sodium I already
possess. The time for loading is one day only, and we con¬
tinue our voyage. So if you wish to go over the cavern, and
make the round of 'the lagoon, you must take advantage of
today, M. Aronnax.”

I thanked the Captain, and went to look for my com¬
panions, who had not yet left their cabin. I invited them
to follow me without saying where we were. They mounted
the platform. Conseil, who was astonished at nothing,
seemed to look upon it as quite natural that he should wake
under a mountain, after having fallen asleep under the
waves. But Ned Land thought of nothing but finding
whether the cavern had any exit. After breakfast, about
ten o’clock, we went down on to the mountain.

“Here we are, once more on land,” said Conseil.

“I do not call this land,” said the Canadian. “And be¬
sides, we are not on it, but beneath it.”

Between the* walls of the mountain and the waters of the
lake lay a sandy shore, which, at its greatest breadth, meas¬
ured five hundred feet. On this soil one might easily make
the tour of the lake. But the base of the high partitions
was stony ground, with volcanic blocks and enormous pum¬
ice stones lying in picturesque heaps. All these detached
masses, covered with enamel, polished by the action of the
subterraneous fires, shone resplendent by the light of our
electric lantern. The mica dust from the shore, rising under
our feet, flew like a cloud of sparks. The bottom now rose
sensibly, and we soon arrived at long circuitous slopes, or
inclined planes, which took us higher by degrees; but we
were obliged to walk carefully among these conglomerates,

204 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

bound by no cement, the feet slipping on the glassy tra¬
chyte, composed of crystal, feldspar, and quartz.

The volcanic nature of tl)is enormous excavation was
confirmed on all sides, and I pointed it out to my compan¬
ions.

“Picture to yourselves,” said I, “what this crater must
have been when filled with boiling lava, and when the level
of the incandescent liquid rose to the orifice of the moun¬
tain, as though melted on the top of a hot plate.”

“I can picture it perfectly,” said Conseil. “But, sir, will
you tell me why the Great Architect has suspended opera¬
tions, and how it is that the furnace is replaced by the
quiet waters of the lake?”

“Most probably, Conseil, because some convulsion be¬
neath the ocean produced that very opening which has
served as a passage for the Nautilus. Then the waters of
the Atlantic rushed into the interior of the mountain. There
must have been a terrible struggle between the two ele¬
ments, a struggle which ended in the victory of Neptune.
But many ages have run out since then, and the submerged
volcano is now a peaceable grotto.”

“Very well,” replied Ned Land; “I accept the explana¬
tion, sir; but, in our own interests, I regret that the opening
of which you speak was not made above the level of the
sea.”

“But, friend Ned,” said Conseil, “if the passage had not
been under the sea, the Nautilus could not have gone
through it.”

We continued ascending. The steps became more and
more perpendicular and narrow. Deep excavations, which
we were obliged to cross, cut them here and there; sloping
masses had to be turned. We slid upon our knees and
crawled along. But Conseil’s dexterity and the Canadian’s
strength surmounted all obstacles. At a height of about
thirty-one feet, the nature of the ground changed without
becoming more practicable. To the conglomerate and
trachyte succeeded black basalt, the first dispread in layers
full of bubbles, the latter forming regular prisms, placed
like a colonnade supporting the spring of the immense
vault, an admirable specimen of natural architecture. Be¬
tween the blocks of basalt wound long streams of lava, long
since grown cold, encrusted with bituminous rays; and in

THE SUBMARINE COAL MINES 20S

some places there were spread large carpets of sulphur. A
more powerful light shone through the upper crater, shed¬
ding a vague glimmer over these volcanic depressions for
ever buried in the bosom of this extinguished mountain.
But our upward march was soon stopped at a height of
about two hundred and fifty feet by impassable obstacles.
There was a complete vaulted arch overhanging us, and our
ascent was changed to a circular walk. At the last change
vegetable life began to struggle with the mineral. Some
shrubs, and even some trees, grew from the fractures of
the walls. I recognised some euphorbias, with the caustic
sugar coming from them; heliotropes, quite incapable of
justifying their name, sadly drooped their clusters of flow¬
ers, both their colour and perfume half gone. Here and
there some chrysanthemums grew timidly at the foot of an
aloe with long sickly looking leaves. But between the
streams of lava, I saw some little violets still slightly per¬
fumed, and I admit that I smelt them- with delight. Per¬
fume is the soul of the flower, and sea-flowers, those splen¬
did hydrophytes, have no soul.

We had arrived at the foot of some sturdy dragon trees,
which had pushed aside the rocks with their strong roots,
when Ned Land exclaimed —

“Ah I sir, a hive I a hive 1”

“A hive! ” I replied, with a gesture of incredulity.

“Yes, a hive,” repeated the Canadian, “and bees hum¬
ming round it.”

I approached, and was bound to believe my own eyes.
There, at a hole bored in one of the dragon-trees, were some
thousands of these ingenious insects, so common in all the
Canaries, and whose produce is so much esteemed. Natu¬
rally enough, the Canadian wished to gather the honey, and
I could not well oppose his wish. A quantity of dry leaves,
mixed with sulphur, he lit with a spark from his flint, and
he began to smoke out the bees. The humming ceased by
degrees, and the hive eventually yielded several pounds of
the sweetest honey, with which Ned Land filled his haver¬
sack.

“When I have mixed this honey with the paste of the
artocarpus,” said he, “I shall be able to offer you a succu¬
lent cake.”

“Upon my word,” said Conseil, “it will be gingerbread.”

206 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“Never mind the gingerbread,” said I; “let us continue
our interesting walk.”

At every turn of the path we were following, the lake ap¬
peared in all its length and breadth. The lantern lit up the
whole of its peaceable surface which knew neither ripple
nor wave. The Nautilus remained perfectly immovable. On
the platform, and on the mountain, the ship’s crew were
working like black shadows clearly carved against the lumi¬
nous atmosphere. We were now going round the highest
crest of the first layers of rock which upheld the roof. I then
saw that bees were not the only representatives of the ani¬
mal kingdom in the interior of this volcano. Birds of prey'
hovered here and there in the shadows, or fled from their
nests on the top of the rocks. There were sparrow-hawks
with white breasts, and kestrels, and down the slopes scam¬
pered, with their long legs, several fine fat bustards. I leave
any one to imagine the covetousness of the Canadian at the
sight of this savoury game, and whether he did not regret
having no gun. But he did his best to replace the lead by
stones, and after several fruitless attempts, he succeeded
in wounding a magnificent bird. To say that he risked his
life twenty times before reaching it, is but the truth; but
he managed so well, that the creature joined the honey-
cakes in his bag. We were now obliged to descend towards
the shore, the crest becoming impracticable. Above us the
crater seemed to gape like the mouth of a well. From this
place the sky could be clearly seen, and clouds, dissipated
by the west wind, leaving behind them, even on the summit
of the mountain, their misty remnants — certain proof that
they were only moderately high, for the volcano did not
rise more than eight hundred feet above the level of the
ocean. Half an hour after the Canadian’s last exploit we
had regained the inner shore. Here the flora was repre¬
sented by large carpets of marine crystal, a little umbellif¬
erous plant very good to pickle, which also bears the name
of pierce-stone, and sea-fennel. Conseil gathered some bun¬
dles of it. As to the fauna, it might be counted by thousands
of Crustacea of all sorts, lobsters, crabs, palsemons, spider
crabs, chameleon shrimps, and a large number of shells,
rockfish and limpets. Three quarters of an hour later, we
had finished our circuitous walk, and were on board. The
crew had just finished loading the sodium, and the Nau-

THE SARGASSO SEA 207

tilus could have left that instant. But Captain Nemo gave
no order. Did he wish to wait until night, and leave the sub¬
marine passage secretly? Perhaps so. Whatever it might
be, the next day, the Nautilus, having left its port, steered
clear of all land at a few yards beneath the waves of the
Atlantic.

11. The Sargasso Sea

That day the Nautilus crossed a singular part of the At¬
lantic Ocean. No one can be ignorant of the existence of a
current of warm water, known by the name of the Gulf
Stream. After leaving the Gulf of Florida, we went in the
direction of Spitzbergen. But before entering the Gulf of
Mexico, about the forty-fifth degree of north latitude, this
current divides into two arms, the principle one going to¬
wards the coast of Ireland and Norway, whilst the second
bends to the south about the height of the Azores; then,
touching the African shore, and describing a lengthened
oval, returns to the Antilles. This second arm — it is rather
a collar than an arm — surrounds with its circles of warm
water that portion of the cold, quiet, immovable ocean
called the Sargasso Sea, a perfect lake in the open Atlantic;
it takes no less than three years for the great current to
pass round it. Such was the region the Nautilus was now
visiting, a perfect meadow, a close carpet of seaweed, fucus,
and tropical berries, so thick and so compact, that the stem
of a vessel could hardly tear its way through it. And Cap¬
tain Nemo, not wishing to entangle his screw in this herba¬
ceous mass, kept some yards beneath the surface of the
waves. The name Sargasso comes from the Spanish word
“sargazzo,” which signifies kelp. This kelp or varech, or
berry-plant, is the principal formation of this immense
bank. And this is the reason, according to the learned
Maury, the author of “The Physical Geography of the
Globe,” why these hydrophytes unite in the peaceful basin
of the Atlantic. The only explanation which can be given,
he says, seems to me to result from the experience known
to all the world. Place in a vase some fragments of cork or
other floating body, and give to the water in the vase a cir¬
cular movement, the scattered fragments will unite in a
. group in the centre of the liquid surface, that is to say, in

208 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

the part least agitated. In the phenomenon we are consid¬
ering, the Atlantic is the vase, the Gulf Stream the circular
current, and the Sargasso Sea the central point at which
the floating bodies unite.

I share Maury’s opinion, and I was able to study the phe¬
nomenon in the very midst, where vessels rarely penetrate.
Above us .floated products of all kinds, heaped up among
these brownish plants; trunks of trees torn from the Andes
or the Rocky Mountains, and floated by the Amazon or the
Mississippi; numerous wrecks, remains of keels, or ships’
bottoms, side planks stove in, and so weighted with shells
and barnacles that they could not again rise to the surface.
And time will one day justify Maury’s other opinion, that
these substances, thus accumulated for ages, will become
petrified by the action of the water, and will then form in¬
exhaustible coal-mines— -a precious reserve prepared by
far-seeing Nature for the moment when men shall have
exhausted the mines of continents.

In the midst of this inextricable mass of plants and sea¬
weed, I noticed some charming pink halcyons and actiniae,
with their long tentacles trailing after them; medusae,
green, red, and blue, and the great rhyostoms of Cuvier, the
large umbrella of which was bordered and festooned with
violet.

All the day of the 22d of February we passed in the Sar¬
gasso Sea, where such fish as are partial to marine plants
and fuci find abundant nourishment. The next, the ocean
had returned to its accustomed aspect. From this time for
nineteen days, from the 23d of February to the 12th of
March, the Nautilus kept in the middle of the Atlantic, car¬
rying us at a constant speed of a hundred leagues in
twenty-four hours. Captain Nemo evidently intended ac¬
complishing his submarine programme, and I imagined that
he intended, after doubling Cape Horn, to return to the
Australian seas of the Pacific. Ned Land had cause for fear.
In these large seas, void of islands, we could not attempt
to leave the boat. Nor had we any means of opposing Cap¬
tain Nemo’s will. Our only course was to submit; but what
we could neither gain by force nor cunning, I liked to think
might be obtained by persuasion. This voyage ended, would
he not consent to restore our liberty, under an oath never
to reveal his existence? — an oath of honour which we

THE SAEGASSO SEA 209

should have religiously kept. But we must consider that
delicate question with the Captain. But was I free to claim
this liberty? Had he not himself said from the beginning,
in the firmest manner, that the secret of his life exacted
from him our lasting imprisonment on board the Nautilus ?
And would not my four months’ silence appear to him a
tacit acceptance of our situation? And would not a return
to the subject result in raising suspicions which might be
hurtful to our projects, if at some future time a favourable
opportunity offered to return to them?

During the nineteen days mentioned above, no incident
of any note happened to signalise our voyage. I saw little
of the Captain; he was at work. In the library I often found
his books left open, especially those on Natural History.
My work on submarine depths, conned over by him, was
covered with marginal notes, often contradicting my theo¬
ries and systems; but the Captain contented himself with
thus purging my work; it was very rare for him to discuss
it with me. Sometimes I heard the melancholy tones of his
organ; but only at night, in the midst of the deepest ob¬
scurity, when the Nautilus slept upon the deserted ocean.
During this part of our voyage we sailed whole days on the
surface of the waves. The sea seemed abandoned. A few
sailing-vessels, on the road to India, were making for the
Cape of Good Hope. One day we were followed by the
boats of a whaler, who, no doubt, took us for some enor¬
mous whale of great price; but Captain Nemo did not wish
the worthy fellows to lose their time and trouble, so ended
the chase by plunging under the water. Our navigation con¬
tinued until the 13th of March; that day the Nautilus was
employed in taking soundings, which greatly interested me.
We had then made about 13,000 leagues since our de¬
parture from the high seas of the Pacific. The bearings gave
us 45° 37' south latitude, and 37° S3' west longitude. It
was the same water in which Captain Denham of the Her¬
ald sounded 7000 fathoms without finding the bottom.
There, too, Lieutenant Parker, of the American frigate Con¬
gress, could not touch the bottom with 15,140 fathoms.
Captain Nemo intended seeking the bottom of the ocean by
a diagonal sufficiently lengthened by means of lateral
planes placed at an angle of forty-five degrees with the wa¬
ter-line of the Nautilus. Then the screw set to work at its

210 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

maximum speed, its four blades beating the waves with in¬
describable force. Under this powerful pressure the hull
of the Nautilus quivered like a sonorous chord, and sank
regularly under the water.

At 7000 fathoms I saw some blackish tops rising from the
midst of the waters; but these summits might belong to
high mountains like the Himalayas or Mount Blanc, even
higher; and the depth of the abyss remained incalculable.
The Nautilus descended still lower, in spite of the great
pressure. I felt the steel plates tremble at the fastenings of
the bolts; its bars bent, its partitions groaned; the windows
of the saloon seemed to curve under the pressure of the
waters. And this firm structure would doubtless have
yielded, if, as its Captain had said, it had not been capable
of resistance like a solid block. In skirting the declivity of
these rocks, lost under water, I still saw some shells, some
serpulse and spinorbes, still living, and some specimens of
asteriads. But soon this last representative of animal life
disappeared; and at the depth of more than three leagues,
the Nautilus had passed the limits of submarine existence,
even as a balloon does when it rises above the respirable
atmosphere. We had attained a depth of 16,000 yards (four
leagues), and the sides of the Nautilus then bore a pressure
of 1600 atmospheres, that is to say, 3200 pounds to each
square two-fifths of an inch of its surface.

“What a situation to be in!” I exclaimed. “To overrun
these deep regions where man has never trod! Look, Cap¬
tain, look at these magnificent rocks, these uninhabited
grottoes, these lowest receptacles of the globe, where life
is no longer possible! What unknown sights are here! Why
should we be unable to preserve a remembrance of them?”

“Would you like to carry away more than the remem¬
brance?” said Captain Nemo.

“What do you mean by those words?”

“I mean to say that nothing is easier than to take a pho¬
tographic view of this submarine region.”

I had not time to express my surprise at this new propo¬
sition, when, at Captain Nemo’s call, an object was
brought into the saloon. Through the widely opened panel,
the liquid mass was bright with electricity, which was dis¬
tributed with such uniformity, that not a shadow, not a
gradation, was to be seen in our manufactured light. The

CACHALOTS AND WHALES 211

Nautilus remained motionless, the force of its screw sub¬
dued by the inclination of its planes: the instrument was
propped on the bottom of the oceanic site, and in a few
seconds we had obtained a perfect negative. I here give the
positive, from which may be seen those primitive rocks,
which have never looked upon the light of heaven; that
lowest granite which forms the foundation of the globe;
those deep grottoes, woven in the stony mass whose out¬
lines were of such sharpness, and the border lines of which
marked in black, as if done by the brush of some Flemish
artist. Beyond that again a horizon of mountains, an ad¬
mirable undulating line, forming the prospective of the
landscape. I cannot describe the effect of these smooth,
black, polished rocks, without moss, without a spot, and of
strange forms, standing solidly on the sandy carpet, which
sparkled under the jets of our electric light.

But the operation being over, Captain Nemo said, “Let
us go up; we must not abuse our position, nor expose the
Nautilus too long to such great pressure.”

“Go up again ! ” I exclaimed.

“Hold well on.”

I had not time to understand why the Captain cautioned
me thus, when I was thrown forward on to the carpet. At a
signal from the Captain, its screw was shipped, and its
blades raised vertically; the Nautilus shot into the air like
a balloon, rising with stunning rapidity, and cutting the
mass of waters with a sonorous agitation. Nothing was visi¬
ble; and in four minutes it had shot through the four
leagues which separated it from the ocean, and after emerg¬
ing like a flying-fish, fell, making the waves rebound to an
enormous height.

12. Cachalots and Whales

During the nights of the 13th and 14th of March, the Nau¬
tilus returned to its southerly course. I fancied that, when
on a level with Cape Horn, he would turn the helm west¬
ward, in order to beat the Pacific seas, and so complete the
tour of the world. He did nothing of the kind, but continued
on his way to the southern regions. Where was he going? To
the pole? It was madness! I began to think that the Cap-

212

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
tain’s temerity justified Ned Land’s fears. For some time
past the Canadian had not spoken to me of his projects of
flight; he was less communicative, almost silent. I could see
that this lengthened imprisonment was weighing upon
him, and I felt that rage was burning within him. When he
met the Captain, his eyes lit up with suppressed anger; and
I feared that his natural violence would lead him into some
extreme. That day, the 14th of March, Conseil and he came
to me in my room. I inquired the cause of their visit.

“A simple question to ask you, sir,” replied the Canadian.

“Speak, Ned.”

“How many men are there on board the Nautilus, do you
think?”

“I cannot tell, my friend.”

“I should say that its working does not require a large
crew.”

“Certainly, under existing conditions, ten men, at the
most, ought to be enough.”

“Well, why should there be any more?”

“Why?” I replied, looking fixedly at Ned Land, whose
meaning was easy to guess. “Because,” I added, “if my sur¬
mises are correct, and if I have well understood the Cap¬
tain’s existence, the Nautilus is not only a vessel: it is also a
place of refuge for those who, like its commander, have
broken every tie upon earth.”

“Perhaps so,” said Conseil; “but, in any case, the Nau¬
tilus can only contain a certain number of men. Could not
you, sir, estimate their maximum?”

“How, Conseil?”

“By calculation; given the size of the vessel, which you
know, sir, and consequently the quantity of air it contains,
knowing also how much each man expands at a breath, and
comparing these results with the fact that the Nautilus is
obliged to go to the surface every twenty-four hours.”

Conseil had not finished the sentence before I saw what
he was driving at.

“I understand,” said I; “but that calculation, though
simple enough, can give but a very uncertain result.”

“Never mind,” said Ned Land, urgently.

“Here it is, then,” said I. “In one hour each man con¬
sumes the oxygen contained in twenty gallons of air; and
in twenty-four, that contained in 480 gallons. We must,

CACHALOTS AND WHALES 213

therefore, find how many times 480 gallons of air the Nau¬
tilus contains.”

“Just so,” said ConseiL

“Or,” I continued, “the size of the Nautilus being 1500
tons; and one ton holding 200 gallons, it contains 300,000
gallons of air, which, divided by 480, gives a quotient of
625. Which means to say, strictly speaking, that the air con¬
tained in the Nautilus would suffice for 625 men for twenty-
four hours.”

“Six hundred and twenty-five!” repeated Ned.

“But remember, that all of us, passengers, sailors, and of¬
ficers included, would not form a tenth part of that num¬
ber.”

“Still too many for three men,” murmured Conseil.

The Canadian shook his head, passed his hand across his
forehead, and left the room without answering.

“Will you allow me to make one observation, sir?” said
Conseil. “Poor Ned is longing for everything that he can’t
have. His past life is always present to him; everything that
we are forbidden he regrets. His head is full of old recollec¬
tions. And we must understand him. What has he to do here?
Nothing; he is not learned like you, sir; and has not the
same taste for the beauties of the sea that we have. He
would risk everything to be able to go once more into a tav¬
ern in his own country.”

Certainly the monotony on board must seem intolerable
to the Canadian, accustomed as he was to a life of liberty
and activity. Events were rare which could rouse him to any
show of spirit; but that day an event did happen which re¬
called the bright days of the harpooner. About eleven in the
morning, being on the surface of the ocean, the Nautilus
fell in with a troop of whales — an encounter which did not
astonish me, knowing that these creatures, hunted to the
death, had taken refuge in high latitudes.

We were seated on the platform, with a quiet sea. The
month of October in those latitudes gave us some lovely
autumnal days. It was the Canadian — he could not be
mistaken — who signalled a whale on the eastern horizon.
Looking attentively one might see its black back rise and
fall with the waves five miles from the Nautilus.

“Ah!” exclaimed Ned Land, “if I were on board a whaler
now, such a meeting would give me pleasure. It is one of

214 20,000 LEAGUES- UNDER THE SEA

large size. See with what strength its blow-holes throw up
columns of air and steam 1 Confound it, why am I bound to
these steel plates?”

“What, Ned,” said I, “you have not forgotten your old
ideas of fishing?”

“Can a whale-fisher ever forget his old trade, sir? Can he
ever tire of the emotions caused by such a chase?”

“You have never fished in these seas, Ned?”

“Never, sir; in the northern only, and as much in Behr¬
ing as in Davis Straits.”

“Then the southern whale is still unknown to you. It is the
Greenland whale you have hunted up to this time, and that
would not risk passing through the warm waters of the equa¬
tor. Whales are localised, according to their kinds, in certain
seas which they never leave. And if one of these creatures
went from Behring to Davis Straits, it must be simply be¬
cause there is a passage from one sfia to the other, either
on the American or the Asiatic side.”

“In that case, as I have never fished in these seas, I do not
know the kind of whale frequenting them.”

“I have told you, Ned.”

“A greater reason for making their acquaintance,” said
Conseil.

“Look! look!” exclaimed the Canadian, “they approach;
they aggravate me; they know that I cannot get at theml”

Ned stamped his feet. His hand trembled, as he grasped
an imaginary harpoon.

“Are these cetacea as large as those of the northern
seas?” asked he.

“Very nearly, Ned.”

“Because I have seen large whales, sir, whales measuring
a hundred feet. I have even been told that those of Hulla-
moch and Umgallick, of the Aleutian Islands, are sometimes
a hundred and fifty feet long.”

“That seems to me exaggeration. These creatures are only
balaenopterons, provided with dorsal fins; and, like the
cachalots, are generally much smaller than the Greenland
whale.”

“Ah!” exclaimed the Canadian, whose eyes had never left
the ocean, “they are coming nearer; they are in the same
water as the Nautilus l”

Then returning to the conversation, he said —

CACHALOTS AND WHALES

215

“You spoke of the cachalot as a small creature. I have
heard of gigantic ones. They are intelligent cetacea. It is said
of some that they cover themselves with seaweed and fucus,
and then are taken for islands. People encamp upon them,
and settle there; light a fire - ”

“And build houses,” said Conseil.

“Yes, joker,” said Ned Land. “And one fine day the crea¬
ture plunges, carrying with it all the inhabitants to the bot¬
tom of the sea.”

“Something like the travels of Sinbad the Sailor,” I re¬
plied, laughing.

“Ahl” suddenly exclaimed Ned Land, “it is not one
whale; there are ten, — there are twenty, — It is a whole
troop! And I not able to do anything! hands and feet tied!”

“But, friend Ned,” said Conseil, “why do you not ask
Captain Nemo’s permission to chase them?”

Conseil had not finished his sentence when Ned Land
had lowered himself through the panel to seek the Captain.
A few minutes afterwards the two appeared together on the
platform.

Captain Nemo watched the troop of cetacea playing on
the waters about a mile from the Nautilus.

“They are southern whales,” said he; “there goes the for¬
tune of a whole fleet of whalers.”

“Well, sir,” asked the Canadian, “can I not chase them, if
only to remind me of my old trade of harpooner?”

“And to what purpose?” replied Captain Nemo; “only to
destroy! We have nothing to do with whale-oil on board.”

“But, sir,” continued the Canadian, “in the Red Sea you
allowed us to follow the dugong.”

“Then it was to procure fresh meat for my crew. Here it
would be killing for killing’s sake. I know that is a privilege
reserved for man, but I do not approve of such murder¬
ous pastime. In destroying the southern whale (like the
Greenland whale, an inoffensive creature), your traders do a
culpable action, Master Land. They have already depopu¬
lated the whole of Baffin’s Bay, and are annihilating a class
of useful animals. Leave the unfortunate cetacea alone. They
have plenty of natural enemies, cachalots, swordfish, and
sawfish, without your troubling them.”

The Captain was right. The barbarous and inconsiderate
greed of these fishermen will one day cause the disappear-

216 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

ance of the last whale in the ocean. Ned Land whistled
“Yankee-doodle” between his teeth, thrust his hands into his
pockets, and turned his back upon us. But Captain Nemo
watched the troop of cetacea, and addressing me, said —

“I was right in saying that whales had natural enemies
enough, without counting man. These will have plenty to do
before long. Do you see, M. Aronnax, about eight miles
to leeward, those blackish moving points?”

“Yes, Captain,” I replied.

“Those are cachalots, — terrible animals, which I have
sometimes met in troops of two or three hundred. As to
those, they are cruel, mischievous creatures; they would be
right in exterminating them.”

The Canadian turned quickly at the last words.

“Well, Captain,” said he, “it is still time, in the interest
of the whales.”

“It is useless to expose one’s self, Professor. The Nautilus
will disperse them. It is armed with a steel spur as good as
Master Land’s harpoon, I imagine.”

The Canadian did not put himself out enough to shrug his
shoulders. Attack cetacea with blows of a spur! Who had
ever heard of such a thing?

“Wait, M. Aronnax,” said Captain Nemo. “We will show
you something you have never yet seen. We have no pity for
these ferocious creatures. They are nothing but mouth and
teeth.”

Mouth and teeth! No one could better describe the
macrocephalous cachalot, which is sometimes more than
seventy-five feet long. Its enormous head occupies one-third
of its entire body. Better armed than the whale, whose upper
jaw is furnished only with whale bone, it is supplied with
twenty-five large tusks, about eight inches long, cylindrical
and conical at the top, each weighing two pounds. It is in
the upper part of this enormous head, in great cavities di¬
vided by cartileges, that is to be found from six to eight
hundred pounds of that precious oil called spermaceti. The
cachalot is a disagreeable creature, more tadpole than
fish, according to Fredol’s description. It is badly formed,
the whole of its left side being (if we may say it) a “fail¬
ure,” and being only able to see with its right eye. But the
formidable troop was nearing us. They had seen the whales
and were preparing to attack them. One could judge be-

CACHALOTS AND WHALES

217

forehand that the cachalots would be victorious, not only
because they were better built for attack than their inoffen¬
sive adversaries, but also because they could remain longer
under water without coming to the surface. There was only
just time to go to the help of the whales. The Nautilus
went under water. Conseil, Ned Land, and I took our places
before the window in the saloon, and Captain Nemo joined
the pilot in his cage to work his apparatus as an engine of
destruction. Soon I felt the beatings of the screw quicken,
and our speed increased. The battle between the cachalots
and the whales had already begun when the Nautilus arrived.
They did not at first show any fear at the sight of this new
monster joining in the conflict. But they soon had to guard
against its blows. What a battle 1 The Nautilus was noth¬
ing but a formidable harpoon, brandished by the hand of
its captain. It hurled itself against the fleshy mass, passing
through from one part to the other, leaving behind it two
quivering halves of the animal. It could not feel the formi¬
dable blows from their tails upon its sides, nor the shock
which it produced itself, much more. One cachalot killed, it
ran at the next, tacked on the spot that it might not miss its
prey, going forwards and backwards, answering to its helm,
plunging when the cetacean dived into the deep waters, com¬
ing up with it when it returned to the surface, striking it
front or sideways, cutting or tearing in all directions, and at
any pace, piercing it with its terrible spur. What carnage I
What a noise on the surface of the waves 1 What sharp hiss¬
ing, and what snorting peculiar to these enraged animals. In
the midst of these waters, generally so peaceful, their tails
made perfect billows. For one hour this wholesale massacre
continued, from which the cachalots could not escape. Sev¬
eral times ten or twelve united tried to crush the Nautilus
by their weight. From the window we could see their enor¬
mous mouths studded with tusks, and their formidable eyes.
Ned Land could not contain himself, he threatened and swore
at them. We could feel them clinging to our vessel like dogs
worrying a wild boar in a copse. But the Nautilus, work¬
ing its screw, carried them here and there, or to the upper
levels of the ocean, without caring for their enormous
weight, nor the powerful strain on the vessel. At length, the
mass of cachalots broke up, the waves became quiet, and I
felt that we were rising to the surface. The panel opened, and

218 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

we hurried on to the platform. The sea was covered with
mutilated bodies. A formidable explosion could not have
divided and torn this fleshy mass with more violence. We
were floating amid gigantic bodies, bluish on the back and
white underneath, covered with enormous protuberances.
Some terrified cachalots were flying towards the horizon.
The waves were dyed red for several miles, and the Nautilus
floated in a sea of blood. Captain Nemo joined us.

“Well, Master Land?” said he.

“Well, sir,” replied the Canadian, whose enthusiasm had
somewhat calmed; “it is a terrible spectacle, certainly.
But I am not a butcher. I am a hunter, and I call this a
butchery.”

“It is a massacre of mischievous creatures,” replied the
Captain; “and the Nautilus is not a butcher’s knife.”

“I like my harpoon better,” said the Canadian.

“Every one to his own,” answered the Captain, looking
fixedly at Ned Land.

I feared he would commit some act of violence, which
would end in sad consequences. But his anger was turned
by the sight of a whale which the Nautilus had just come up
with. The creature had not quite escaped from the cachalot’s
teeth. I recognised the southern whale by its flat head, which
is entirely black. Anatomically, it is distinguished from the
white whale and the North Cape whale by the seven cervical
vertebrae, and it has two more ribs than its congeners. The
unfortunate cetacean was lying on its side, riddled with holes
from the bites, and quite dead. From its mutilated fin still
hung a young whale which it could not save from the mas¬
sacre. Its open mouth let the water flow in and out, mur¬
muring like the waves breaking on the shore. Captain Nemo
steered close to the corpse of the creature. Two of his men
mounted its side, and I saw, not without surprise, that they
were drawing from its breasts all the milk which they con¬
tained, that is to say, about two or three tons. The Captain
offered me a cup of the milk, which was still warm. I could
not help showing my repugnance to the drink; but he as¬
sured me that it was excellent, and not to be distinguished
from cow’s milk. I tasted it, and was of his opinion. It was
a useful reserve to us, for in the shape of salt butter
or cheese it would form an agreeable variety from our or¬
dinary food. From that day I noticed with uneasiness that

THE ICEBERG 219

Ned Land’s ill-will towards Captain Nemo increased, and I
resolved to watch the Canadian’s gestures closely.

13. The Iceberg

The Nautilus was steadily pursuing its southerly course,
following the fiftieth meridian with considerable speed.
Did he wish to reach the pole? I did not think so, for every
attempt to reach that point had hitherto failed. Again the
season was far advanced, for in the antarctic regions, the
13th of March corresponds with the 13th of September of
northern regions, which begin at the equinoctial season. On
the 14th of March I saw floating ice in latitude 55°, merely
pale bits of debris from twenty to twenty-five feet long, form¬
ing banks over which the sea curled. The Nautilus remained
on the surface of the ocean. Ned Land, who had fished in the
arctic seas, was familiar with its icebergs; but Conseil and I
admired them for the first time. In the atmosphere towards
the southern horizon stretched a white dazzling band. Eng¬
lish whalers have given it the name of “ice blink.” However
thick the clouds may be, it is always visible, and announces
the presence of an ice pack or bank. Accordingly, larger
blocks soon appeared, whose brilliancy changed with the
caprices of the fog. Some of these masses showed green
veins, as if long undulating lines had been traced with sul¬
phate of copper; others resembled enormous amethysts with
the light shining through them. Some reflected the light of
day upon a thousand crystal facets. Others shaded with
vivid calcareous reflections resembled a perfect town of
marble. The more we neared the south, the more these float¬
ing islands increased both in number and importance.

At the sixtieth degree of latitude, every pass had disap¬
peared. But seeking carefully, Captain Nemo soon found a
narrow opening, through which he boldly slipped, knowing,
however, that it would close behind him. Thus, guided by
this clever hand, the Nautilus passed through all the ice with
a precision which quite charmed Conseil; icebergs or moun¬
tains, ice-fields or smooth plains, seeming to have no lim¬
its, drift ice or floating ice packs, or plains broken up,
called palchs when they are circular, and streams when
they are made up of long strips. The temperature was very
low; the thermometer exposed to the air marked two or

220 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

three degrees below zero, but we were warmly clad with fur,
at the expense of the sea-bear and seal. The interior of the
Nautilus, warmed regularly by its electric apparatus, defied
the most intense cold. Besides, it would only have been
necessary to go some yards beneath the waves to find a
more bearable temperature. Two months earlier we should
have had perpetual daylight in these latitudes; but already
we had three or four horns night, and by and by there would
be six months of darkness in these circumpolar regions. On
the 15th of March we were in the latitude of New Shetland
and South Orkney. The Captain told me that formerly
numerous tribes of seals inhabited them; but that English
and American whalers, in their rage for destruction, massa¬
cred both old and young; thus where there was once life
and animation, they had left silence and death.

About eight o’clock on the morning of the 16th of March,
the Nautilus, following the fifty-fifth meridian, cut the ant¬
arctic polar circle. Ice surrounded us on all sides, and closed
the horizon. But Captain Nemo went from one opening to
another, still going higher. I cannot express my astonish¬
ment at the beauties of these new regions. The ice took
most surprising forms. Here the grouping formed an oriental
town, with innumerable mosques and minarets; there a
fallen city thrown to the earth, as it were, by some convul¬
sion of nature. The whole aspect was constantly changed by
the oblique rays of the sun, or lost in the greyish fog amidst
hurricanes of snow. Detonations and falls were heard on all
sides, great overthrows of icebergs, which altered the whole
landscape like a diorama. Often seeing no exit, I thought
we were definitely prisoners; but instinct guiding him at the
slightest indication. Captain Nemo would discover a new
pass. He was never mistaken when he saw the thin threads
of bluish water trickling along the ice-fields; and I had no
doubt that he had already ventured into the midst of these
antarctic seas before. On the 16th of March, however, the
ice-fields absolutely blocked our road. It was not the ice¬
berg itself, as yet, but vast fields cemented by the cold.
But this obstacle could not stop Captain Nemo; he hurled
himself against it with frightful violence. The Nautilus
entered the brittle mass like a wedge, and split it with
frightful cracklings. It was the battering ram of the an¬
cients hurled by infinite strength. The ice, thrown high in

THE ICEBERG

221

the air, fell like hail around us. By its own power of impul¬
sion our apparatus made a canal for itself; sometimes car¬
ried away by its own impetus it lodged on the ice-field,
crushing it with its weight, and sometimes buried beneath
it, dividing it by a simple pitching movement, producing
large rents in it. Violent gales assailed us at this time, ac¬
companied by thick fogs, through which, from one end of
the platform to the other, we could see nothing. The wind
blew sharply from all points of the compass, and the snow
lay in such hard heaps that we had to break it with blows
of a pickaxe. The temperature was always at five degrees
below zero; every outward part of the Nautilus was covered
with ice. A rigged vessel could never have worked its way
there, for all the rigging would have been entangled in the
blocked-up gorges. A vessel without sails, with electricity
for its motive power, and wanting no coal, could alone brave
such high latitudes. At length, on the 18th of March, after
many useless assaults, the Nautilus was positively blocked.
It was no longer either streams, packs, or ice-fields, but an
interminable and immovable barrier, formed by mountains
soldered together.

“An iceberg! ” said the Canadian to me.

I knew that to Ned Land, as well as to all other navigators
who had preceded us, this was an inevitable obstacle.
The sun appearing for an instant at noon, Captain Nemo
took an observation as near as possible, which gave our situ¬
ation at 51° 30' longitude and 67° 39' of south latitude.
We had advanced one degree more in this antarctic region.
Of the liquid surface of the sea there was no longer
a glimpse. Under the spur of the Nautilus lay stretched a
vast plain, entangled with confused blocks. Here and there
sharp points, and slender needles rising to a height of 200
feet; further on a steep shore, hewn as it were with an axe,
and clothed with greyish tints; huge mirrors reflecting a
few rays of sunshine, half drowned in the fog. And over this
desolate face of Nature a stern silence reigned, scarcely bro¬
ken by the flapping of wings of petrels and puffins. Every¬
thing was frozen — even the noise. The Nautilus was then
obliged to stop in its adventurous course amid these fields
of ice. In spite of our efforts, in spite of the powerful means
employed to break up the ice, the Nautilus remained im¬
movable. Generally, when we can proceed no further, we

222 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

have return still open to us; but here return was as im- «
possible as advance, for every pass had closed behind us;
and for the few moments when we were stationary, we were
likely to be entirely blocked, which did, indeed, happen
about two o’clock in the afternoon, the fresh ice forming
around its sides with astonishing rapidity. I was obliged
to admit that Captain Nemo was more than imprudent. I
was on the platform at that moment. The Captain had
been observing our situation for some time past, when he
said to me —

“Well, sir, what do you think of this?”

“I think that we are caught, Captain.”

“So, M. Aronnax, you really think that the Nautilus can¬
not disengage itself?”

“With difficulty, Captain; for the season is already too far
advanced for you to reckon on the breaking up of the ice.”

“Ahl sir,” said Captain Nemo, in an ironical tone, “you
will always be the same. You see nothing but difficulties
and obstacles. I affirm that not only can the Nautilus disen¬
gage itself, but also that it can go further still.”

“Further to the south?” I asked, looking at the Captain.

“Yes, sir; it shall go to the pole.”

“To the polel” I exclaimed, unable to repress a gesture of
incredulity.

“Yes,” replied the Captain, coldly, “to the antarctic pole,
— to that unknown point from whence springs every
meridian of the globe. You know whether I can do as I
please with the Nautilus 1”

Yes, I knew that. I knew that this man was bold, even to
rashness. But to conquer those obstacles which bristled round
the south pole, rendering it more inaccessible than the
north, which had not yet been reached by the boldest navi¬
gators, — was it not a mad enterprise, one which only a man¬
iac would have conceived? It then came into my head to
ask Captain Nemo if he had ever discovered that pole which
had never yet been trodden by a human creature.

“No, sir,” he replied; “but we will discover it together.
Where others have failed, I will not fail. I have never yet
led my Nautilus so far into southern seas, but, I repeat, it
shall go further yet.”

“I can well believe you, Captain,” said I, in a slightly
ironical tone. “I believe you! Let us go ahead! There are no

THE ICEBERG

223

obstacles for us! Let us smash this iceberg! Let us blow
it up; and if it resists, let us give the Nautilus wings to fly
over it!”

“Over it, sir!” said Captain Nemo, quietly; “no, not over
it, but under it!”

“Under it!” I exclaimed, a sudden idea of the Captain’s
projects flashing upon my mind. I understood; the wonder¬
ful qualities of the Nautilus were going to serve us in this
superhuman enterprise.

“I see we are beginning t d understand one another, sir,”
said the Captain, half smiling. “You begin to see the possi¬
bility — I should say the success — of this attempt. That
which is impossible for an ordinary vessel, is easy to the
Nautilus. If a continent lies before the pole, it must stop
before the continent; but if, on the contrary, the pole is
washed by open sea, it will go even to the pole.”

“Certainly,” said I, carried away by the Captain’s reason¬
ing; “if the surface of .the sea is solidified by the ice,
the lower depths are free by the providential law which has
placed the maximum of density of the waters of the ocean
one degree higher than freezing point; and, if I am not
mistaken, the portion of this iceberg which is above the wa¬
ter, is as four to one to that which is below.”

“Very nearly, sir; for one foot of iceberg above the sea
there are three below it. If these ice mountains are not more
than 300 feet above the surface, they are not more than 900
beneath. And what are 900 feet to the Nautilus ?”

“Nothing, sir.”

“It could even seek at greater depths that uniform tem¬
perature of sea-water, and there brave with impunity the
thirty or forty degrees of surface cold.”

“Just so, sir — just so,” I replied, getting animated.

“The only difficulty,” continued Captain Nemo, “is that
of remaining several days without renewing our provision
of air.”

“Is that all? The Nautilus has vast reservoirs; we can fill
them, and they will supply us with all the oxygen we want.”

“Well thought of, M. Aronnax,” replied the Captain, smil¬
ing. “But not wishing you to accuse me of rashness, I will
first give you all my objections.”

“Have you any more to make?”

“Only one. It is possible, if the sea exists at the south

224 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

pole, that it may be covered; and, consequently, we shall

be unable to come to the surface.”

“Good, sirl but do you forget that the Nautilus is armed
with a powerful spur, and could we not send it diagonally
against these fields of ice, which would open at the shock?”

“Ahl sir, you are full of ideas today.”

“Besides, Captain,” I added, enthusiastically, “why
should we not find the sea open at the south pole as well as
at the north? The frozen poles and the poles of the earth do
not coincide, either in the southern or in the northern re¬
gions; and, until it is proved to the contrary, we may sup¬
pose either a continent or an ocean free from ice at these
two points of the globe.”

“I think so, too, M. Aronnax,” replied Captain Nemo. “I
only wish you to observe that, after having made so many
objections to my project, you are now crushing me with
arguments in its'favour 1 ”

The preparations for this audacious attempt now be¬
gan. The powerful pumps of the Nautilus were working air
into the reservoirs and storing it at high pressure. About
four o’clock Captain Nemo announced the closing of the
panels on the platform. I threw one last look at the massive
iceberg which we were going to cross. The weather was clear,
the atmosphere pure enough, the cold very great, being
twelve degrees below zero; but the wind having gone down,
this temperature was not so unbearable. About ten men
mounted the sides of the Nautilus, armed with pickaxes to
break the ice around the vessel, which was soon free. The
operation was quickly performed, for the fresh ice was still
very thin. We all went below. The usual reservoirs were
filled with the newly liberated water, and the Nautilus
soon descended. I had taken my place with Conseil in the
saloon; through the open window we could see the lower
beds of the Southern Ocean. The thermometer went up,
the needle of the compass deviated on the dial. At about nine
hundred feet, as Captain Nemo had foreseen, we were float¬
ing beneath the undulating bottom of the iceberg. But the
Nautilus went lower still — it went to the depth of four
hundred fathoms. The temperature of the water at the sur¬
face showed twelve degrees, it was now only eleven; we had
gained two. I need not say the temperature of the Nautilus
was raised by its heating apparatus 'to a much higher de-

THE ICEBERG 225

gree; every manoeuvre was accomplished with wonderful
precision.

“We shall pass it, if you please, sir,” said Conseil.

“I believe we shall,” I said, in a tone of firm conviction.

In this open sea, the Nautilus had taken its course direct
to the pole, without leaving the fifty-second meridian. From
67° 30' to 90°, twenty-two degrees and a half of latitude
remained to travel; that is, about five hundred leagues. The
Nautilus kept up a mean speed of twenty-six miles an hour
— the speed of an express train. If that was kept up, in forty
hours we should reach the pole.

For a part of the night the novelty of the situation kept us
at the window. The sea was lit with the electric lantern; but
it was deserted; fishes did not sojourn in these imprisoned
waters: they only found there a passage to take them from
the antarctic ocean to the open polar sea. Our pace was rapid;
we could feel it by the quivering of the long steel body.
About two in the morning, I took some hours’ repose, and
Conseil did the same. In crossing the waist I did not meet
Captain Nemo: I supposed him to be in the pilot’s cage. The
next morning, the 19th of March, I took my post once more
in the saloon. The electric log told me that the speed of the
Nautilus had been slackened. It was then going towards the
surface; but prudently emptying its reservoirs very slowly.
My heart beat fast. Were we going to emerge and regain
the open polar atmosphere? No! A shock told me that the
Nautilus had struck the bottom of the iceberg, still very
thick, judging from the deadened sound. We had indeed
“struck,” to use a sea expression, but in an inverse sense, and
at a thousand feet deep. This would give three thousand
feet of ice above us; one thousand being above the water¬
mark. The iceberg was then higher than at its borders —
not a very reassuring fact. Several times that day the
Nautilus tried again, and every time it struck the wall
which lay like a ceiling above it. Sometimes it met with
but 900 yards, only 200 of which rose above the surface.
It was twice the height it was when the Nautilus had gone
under the waves. I carefully noted the different depths, and
thus obtained a submarine profile of the chain as it was de¬
veloped under water. That night no change had taken place
in our situation. Still ice between four and five hundred
yards in depth! It was evidently diminishing, but still what

226 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

a thickness between us and the surface of the ocean I It
was then eight. According to the daily custom on board the
Nautilus, its air should have been renewed four hours ago;
but I did not suffer much, although Captain Nemo had not
yet made any demand upon his reserve of oxygen. My sleep
was painful that night; hope and fear besieged me by turns:
I rose several times. The groping of the Nautilus continued.
About three in the morning, I noticed that the lower surface
of the iceberg was only about fifty feet deep. One hundred
and fifty feet now separated us from the surface of the
waters. The iceberg was by degrees becoming an ice-field,
the mountain a plain. My eyes never left the manometer.
We were still rising diagonally to the surface, which sparkled
under the electric rays. The iceberg was stretching both
above and beneath into lengthening slopes; mile after mile
it was getting thinner. At length, at six in the morning of
that memorable day, the 19th of March, the door of the
saloon opened, and Captain Nemo appeared.

“The sea is open I ” was all he said.

14. The South Pole

I rushed on to the platform. Yesl the open sea, with but
a few scattered pieces of ice and moving icebergs; — a long
stretch of sea; a world of birds in the air, and myriads of
fishes under those waters, which varied from intense blue
to olive green, according to the bottom. The thermometer
marked three degrees centigrade above zero. It was com¬
paratively spring, shut up as we were behind this iceberg,
whose lengthened mass was dimly seen on our northern
horizon.

“Are we at the pole?” I asked the Captain, with a beat¬
ing heart.

“I do not know,” he replied. “At noon I will take our
bearings.”

“But will the sun show himself through this fog?” said I,
looking at the leaden sky.

“However little it shows, it will be enough,” replied the
Captain.

About ten miles south, a solitary island rose to a height
of one hundred and four yards. We made for it, but care¬
fully, for the sea might be strewn with banks. One hour after-

THE SOUTH POLE

227

wards we had reached it, two hours later we had made the
round of it. It measured four or five miles in circumference.
A narrow canal separated it from a considerable stretch of
land, perhaps a continent, for we could not see its limits. The
existence of this land seemed to give some colour to Maury’s
hypothesis. The ingenious American has remarked, that be¬
tween the south pole and the sixtieth parallel, the sea is
covered with floating ice of enormous size, which is never
met with in the North Atlantic. From this fact he has drawn
the conclusion that the antarctic circle encloses considerable
continents, as icebergs cannot form in open sea, but only on
the coasts. According to these calculations, the mass of ice
surrounding the southern pole forms a vast cap, the circum¬
ference of which must be, at least, 2500 miles. But the Nau¬
tilus, for fear of running aground, had stopped about three
cables’ length from a strand over which reared a superb
heap of rocks. The boat was launched; the Captain, two of
his men bearing instruments, Conseil, and myself, were in
it. It was ten in the morning. I had not seen Ned
Land. Doubtless the Canadian did not wish to admit the
presence of the south pole. A few strokes of the oar brought
us to the sand, where we ran ashore. Conseil was going to
jump on to the land, when I held him back.

“Sir,” said I to Captain Nemo, “to you belongs the hon¬
our of first setting foot on this land.”

“Yes, sir,” said the Captain; “and if I do not hesitate to
tread this south pole, it is because, up to this time, no hu¬
man being has left a trace there.”

Saying this he jumped lightly on to the sand. His heart
beat with, emotion. He climbed a rock, sloping to a little
promontory, and there, with his arms crossed, mute and mo¬
tionless, and with an eager look, he seemed to take pos¬
session of these southern regions. After five minutes passed
in this ecstasy he turned to us.

“When you like, sir.”

I landed, followed by Conseil, leaving the two men in the
boat. For a long way the soil was composed of a reddish,
sandy stone, something like crushed brick, scorise, streams
of lava, and pumice stones. One could not mistake its vol¬
canic origin. In some parts, slight curls of smoke emitted a
sulphurous smell, proving that the internal fires had lost
nothing of their expansive powers, though, having climbed

228 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

a high acclivity, I could see no volcano for a radius of sev¬
eral miles. We know that in those antarctic countries, James
Ross found two craters, the* Erebus and Terror, in full ac¬
tivity, on the 167th meridian, latitude 77° 32'. The vegeta¬
tion of this desolate continent seemed to me much re¬
stricted. Some lichens of the species unsnea melanoxantha
lay upon the black rocks; some microscopic plants, rudi¬
mentary diatomas, a kind of cells, placed between two
quartz shells; long purple and scarlet fucus, supported on
little swimming bladders, which the breaking of the waves
brought to the shore. These constituted the meagre flora of
this region. The shore was strewn with molluscs, little mus¬
sels, limpets, smooth bucards in the shape of a heart, and
particularly some clios, with oblong membranous bodies,
the head of which was formed of two rounded lobes. I also
saw myriads of northern clios, one and a quarter inches
long, of which a whale would swallow a whole world at a
mouthful; and some charming pteropods, perfect sea-but¬
terflies, animating the waters on the skirts of the shore.

Amongst other zoophytes, there appeared on the high bot¬
toms some coral shrubs, of that kind which, according to
James Ross, live in the antarctic seas to the depth of more
than 1000 yards. Then there were little kingfishers, belong¬
ing to the species procellaria pelagica, as well as a large
number of asteriads, peculiar to these climates, and star¬
fish studding the soil. But where life abounded most was in
the air. There, thousands of birds fluttered and flew of all
kinds, deafening us with their cries; others crowded the
rocks, looking at us as we passed by without fear, and press¬
ing familiarly close by our feet. There were penguins, so
agile in the water, that they have been taken for the rapid
bonitos, heavy and awkward as they are on the ground; they
were uttering harsh cries, a large assembly, sober in ges¬
ture, but extravagant in clamour. Amongst the birds I no¬
ticed the chionis, of the long-legged family, as large as pi¬
geons, white, with a short conical beak, and the eye framed
in a red circle. Conseil laid in a stock of them, for these
winged creatures, properly prepared, make an agreeable
meat. Albatrosses passed in the air (the expanse of their
wings being at least four yards and a half) , and justly called
the vultures of the ocean; some gigantic petrels, and some
damiers, a kind of small duck, the under part of whose body

THE SOUTH POLE 229

is black and white; then there were a whole series of petrels,
some whitish, with brown-bordered wings, others blue, pe¬
culiar to the antarctic seas, and so oily, as I told Conseil,
that the inhabitants of the Ferroe Islands had nothing to
do before lightning them, but to put a wick in.

“A little more,” said Conseil, “and there would be per¬
fect lampsl after that, we cannot expect Nature to have
previously furnished them with wicks 1 ”

About half a mile further on, the soil was riddled with
ruffs’ nests, a sort of laying ground, out of which many birds
were issuing. Captain Nemo had some hundreds hunted.
They uttered a cry like the braying of an ass, were about
the size of a goose, slate colour on the body, white beneath,
with a yellow line round their throats; they allowed them¬
selves to be killed with a stone, never trying to escape. But
the fog did not lift, and at eleven the sun had not yet shown
itself. Its absence made me uneasy. Without it no observa¬
tions were possible. How, then, could we decide whether
we had reached' the pole? When I rejoined Captain Nemo, I
found him leaning on a piece of rock, silently watching the
sky. He seemed impatient and vexed. But what was to be
done? This rash and powerful man could not command the
sun as he did the sea. Noon arrived without the orb of day
showing itself for an instant. We could not even tell its posi¬
tion behind the curtain of fog; and soon the fog turned to
snow.

“Till to-morrow,” said the Captain, quietly, and we re¬
turned to the Nautilus amid these atmospheric disturbances.

The tempest of snow continued till the next day. It was
impossible to remain on the platform. From the saloon, where
I was taking notes of incidents happening during this ex¬
cursion to the polar continent, I could hear the cries of pe¬
trels and albatrosses sporting in the midst of this violent
storm. The Nautilus did not remain motionless, but skirted
the coast, advancing ten miles more to the south in the half
light left by the sun as it skirted the edge of the horizon. The
next day, the 20th of March, the snow had ceased. The cold
was a little greater, the thermometer showing two degrees
below zero. The fog was rising, and I hoped that that day our
observations might be taken. Captain Nemo not having yet
appeared, the boat took Conseil and myself to land. The soil
was still of the same volcanic nature; everywhere were

230 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

traces of lava, scoriae, and basalt; but the crater which
had vomited them I could not see. Here, as lower down,
this continent was alive with myriads of birds. But their rule
was now divided with large troops of sea-mammals, looking
at us with their soft eyes. There were several kinds of seals,
some stretched on the earth, some on flakes of ice, many
going in and out of the sea. They did not flee at our ap¬
proach, never having had anything to do with man; and I
reckoned that there were provisions there for hundreds of
vessels.

“Sir,” said Conseil, “will you tell me the names of these
creatures?”

“They are seals and walruses.”

It was now eight in the morning. Four hours remained to
us before the sun could be observed with advantage. I di¬
rected out steps towards a vast bay cut in the steep gran¬
ite shore. There, I can aver that earth and ice were lost to
sight by the numbers of sea-mammals covering them, and I
involuntarily sought for old Proteus, the mythological shep¬
herd who watched these immense flocks of Neptune. There
Were more seals than anything else, forming distinct groups,
male and female, the father watching over his family, the
mother suckling her little ones, some already strong enough
to go a few steps. When they wished to change their place,
they took little jumps, made by the contraction of their
bodies, and helped awkwardly enough by their imperfect
fin, which, as with the lamantin, their congener, forms a
perfect forearm. I should say that, in the water, which is
their element — the spine of these creatures is flexible —
with smooth and close skin, and webbed feet, they swim ad¬
mirably. In resting on the earth they take the most grace¬
ful attitudes. Thus the ancients, observing their soft and ex¬
pressive looks, which cannot be surpassed by the most beau¬
tiful look a woman can give, their clear voluptuous eyes,
their charming positions, and the poetry of their manners,
metamorphosed them, the male into a triton and the female
into a mermaid. I made Conseil notice the considerable de¬
velopment of the lobes of the brain in these interesting ce¬
taceans. No mammal, except man, has such a quantity
of cerebral matter; they are also capable of receiving a cer¬
tain amount of education, are easily domesticated, and I
think, with other naturalists, that, if properly taught,

THE SOUTH POLE

231

they would be of great service as fishing-dogs. The greater
part of them slept on the rocks or on the sand. Amongst
these seals, properly so called, which have no external ears
(in which they diSer from the otter, whose ears are promi¬
nent), I noticed several varieties of stenorhynchi about three
yards long, with a white coat, bulldog heads, armed with
teeth in both jaws, four incisors at the top and four at the
bottom, and two large canine teeth in the shape of a “fleur-
de-lis.” Amongst them glided sea-elephants, a kind of seal,
with short flexible trunks. The giants of this species meas¬
ured twenty feet round, and ten yards and a half in length;
but they did not move as we approached.

“These creatines are not dangerous?” asked Conseil.

“No; not unless you attack them. When they have to de¬
fend their young, their rage is terrible, and it is not uncom¬
mon for them to break the fishing-boats to pieces.”

“They are quite right,” said Conseil.

“I do not say they are not.”

Two miles further on we were stopped by the promontory
which shelters the bay from the southerly winds. Beyond it
we heard loud bellowings such as a troop of ruminants
would produce.

“Good I” said Conseil; “a concert of bulls!”

“No; a concert of walruses.”

“They are fighting!”

“They are either fighting or playing.”

We now began to climb the blackish rocks, amid unfore¬
seen stumbles, and over stones which the ice made slippery.
More than once I rolled over at the expense of my loins,
Conseil, more prudent or more steady, did not stum¬
ble, and helped me up, saying —

“If, sir, you would have the kindness to take wider steps,
you would preserve your equilibrium better.”

Arrived at the upper ridge of the promontory, I saw a vast
white plain covered with walruses. They were playing
amongst themselves, and what we heard were bellowings of
pleasure, not of anger.

As I passed near these curious animals, I could examine
them leisurely, for they did not move. Their skins were
thick and rugged, of a yellowish tint, approaching to red;
their hair was short and scant. Some of them were four yards
and a quarter long. Quieter, and less timid than those of the

232 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

north, they did not, like them, place sentinels round the
outskirts of their encampment. After examining this city of
walruses, I began to think of returning. It was eleven
o’clock, and if Captain Nemo found the conditions favour¬
able for observations, I wished to be present at the opera¬
tion. We followed a narrow pathway running along the sum¬
mit of the steep shore. At half-past eleven we had reached
the place where we landed. The boat had run aground,
bringing the Captain. I saw him standing on a block of ba¬
salt, his instruments near him, his eyes fixed on the northern
horizon, near which the sun was then describing a length¬
ened curve. I took my place beside him, and waited with¬
out speaking. Noon arrived, and, as before, the sun did not
appear. It was a fatality. Observations were still wanting. If
not accomplished tomorrow, we must give up all idea of
taking any. We were indeed exactly at the 20th of March.
Tomorrow, the- 21 St, would be the equinox; the sun would
disappear behind the horizon for six months, and with its
disappearance the long polar night would begin. Since the
September equinox it had emerged from the northern
horizon, rising by lengthened spirals up to the 21st of De¬
cember. At this period, the summer solstice of the northern
regions, it had begun to descend; and tomorrow was to shed
its last rays upon them. I communicated my fears and ob¬
servations to Captain Nemo.

“You are right, M. Aronnax,” said he; “if tomorrow I can¬
not take the altitude of the sun, I shall not be able to do it
for six months. But precisely because chance has led me into
these seas on the 21st of March, my bearings will be easy to
take, if at twelve we can see the sun.”

“Why, Captain?”

“Because then the orb of day describes such lengthened
curves, that it is difficult.to measure exactly its height above
the horizon, and grave errors may be made with instru¬
ments.”

“What will you do then?”

“I shall only use my chronometer,” replied Captain
Nemo. “If tomorrow, the 21st of March, the disc of the sun,
allowing for refraction, is exactly cut by the northern hori¬
zon, it will show that I am at the south pole.”

“Just so,” said I. “But this statement is not mathemati-

THE SOUTH POLE 233

cally correct, because the equinox does not necessarily begin
at noon.”

“Very likely, sir; but the error will not be a hundred
yards, and we do not want more. Till tomorrow thenl ”

Captain Nemo returned on board. Conseil and I remained
to survey the shore, observing and studying until five
o’clock. Then I went to bed, not, however, without invok¬
ing, like the Indian, the favour of the radiant orb. The next
day, the 21st of March, at five in the morning, I mounted
the platform. I found Captain Nemo there.

“The weather is lightening a little,” said he. “I have some
hope. After breakfast we will go on shore, and choose a
post for observation.”

That point settled, I sought Ned Land. I wanted to take
him with me. But the obstinate Canadian refused, and I
saw that his taciturnity and his bad humour grew day by
day. After all I was not sorry for his obstinacy under the cir¬
cumstances. Indeed, there were too many seals on shore, and
we ought not to lay such temptations in this unreflecting
fisherman’s way. Breakfast over, we went on shore. The
Nautilus had gone some miles further up in the night. It
was a whole league from the coast, above which reared a
sharp peak about five hundred yards high. The boat took
with me Captain Nemo, two men of the crew, and the in¬
struments, which consisted of a chronometer, a telescope,
and a barometer. While crossing, I saw numerous whales
belonging to the three kinds peculiar to the southern seas;
the whale, or the English “right whale,” which has no dor¬
sal fin; the “humpback,” or balaenopteron, with reeved
chest, and large whitish fins which, in spite of its name, do
not form wings; and the fin-back, of a yellowish brown,
the liveliest of all the cetacea. This powerful creature is
heard a long way off when he throws to a great height col¬
umns of air and vapour, which look like whirlwinds of smoke.
These different mammals were disporting themselves in
troops in the quiet waters; and I could see that this basin of
the antarctic pole served as a place of refuge to the cetacea
too closely tracked by the hunters. I also noticed long whit¬
ish lines of salpae, a kind of gregarious mollusc, and large
medusae floating between the reeds.

At nine we landed; the sky was brightening, the clouds
were flying to the south, and the fog seemed to be leaving

234 • 20,000 LEAGUES UNDEK THE SEA

the cold surface of the waters. Captain Nemo went towards
the peak, which he doubtless meant to be his observatory.
It was a painful ascent over the sharp lava and the pumice
stones, in atmosphere often impregnated with a sulphur¬
ous smell from the smoking cracks. For a man unaccus¬
tomed to walk on land, the Captain climbed the steep slopes
with an agility I never saw equalled, and which a hunter
would have envied. We were two hours getting to the sum¬
mit of this peak, which was half porphyry and half basalt.
From thence we looked upon a vast sea, which, towards the
north, distinctly traced its boundary line upon the sky. At
our feet lay fields of dazzling whiteness. Over our heads a
pale azure, free from fog. To the north the disc of the sun
seemed like a ball of fire, already horned by the cutting of
the horizon. From the bosom of the water rose sheaves of
liquid jets by hundreds. In the distance lay the Nautilus
like a whale asleep on the water.

Behind us, to the south and east, an immense country,
and a chaotic heap of rocks and ice, the limits of which were
not visible. On arriving at the summit, Captain Nemo care¬
fully took the mean height of the barometer, for he would
have to consider that in taking his observations. At a quar¬
ter to twelve, the sun, then seen only by reflection, looked
like a golden disc shedding its last rays upon this deserted
continent, and seas which never man had yet ploughed. Cap¬
tain Nemo, furnished with a lenticular glass, which, by
means of a mirror, corrected the refraction, watched the orb
sinking below the horizon by degrees, following a lengthened
diagonal. I held the chronometer. My heart beat fast. If the
disappearance of the half-disc of the sun coincided with
twelve o’clock on the chronometer, we were at the pole it¬
self.

“Twelve I” I exclaimed.

“The South Pole!” replied Captain Nemo, in a grave voice,
handing me the glass, which showed the orb cut in exactly
equal parts by the horizon.

I looked at the last rays crowning the peak, and the shad¬
ows mounting by degrees up its slopes. At that moment Cap¬
tain Nemo, resting with his hand on my shoulder, said —

“I Captain Nemo, on this 21st day of March, 1868, have
reached the south pole on the ninetieth degree; and I take
possession of this part of the globe, equal to one-sixth of the

ACCIDENT OR INCIDENT 23 S

known continents.”

“In whose name, Captain?”

“In my own, sir I”

Saying which, Captain Nemo unfurled a black banner,
bearing an N in gold quartered on its bunting. Then turning
towards the orb of day, whose last rays lapped the horizon
of the sea, he exclaimed —

“Adieu, sun! Disappear, thou radiant orb! rest beneath
this open sea, and let a night of six months spread its shad¬
ows over my new domains 1 ”

IS. Accident or Incident

The next day, the 2 2d of March, at six in the morning,
preparations for departure were begun. The last gleams
of twilight were melting into night. The cold was great; the
constellations shone with wonderful intensity. In the zenith
glittered that wondrous Southern Cross — the polar bear of
antarctic regions. The thermometer showed twelve degrees
below zero, and when the wind freshened, it was most bit¬
ing. Flakes of ice increased on the open water. The sea
seemed everywhere alike. Numerous blackish patches
spread on the surface, showing the formation of fresh ice.
Evidently the southern basin, frozen dining the six winter
months, was absolutely inaccessible. What became of the ,
whales in that time? Doubtless they went beneath the ice¬
bergs, seeking more practicable seas. As to the seals and
morses, accustomed to live in a hard climate, they remained
on these icy shores. These creatures have the instinct to
break holes in the ice-fields, and to keep them open. To these
holes they come for breath; when the birds, driven away by
the cold, have emigrated to the north, these sea-mammals re¬
main sole masters of the polar continent. But the reservoirs
were filling with water, and the Nautilus was slowly de¬
scending. At 1000 feet deep it stopped; its screw beat the
waves, and it advanced straight towards the north, at a speed
of fifteen miles an hour. Towards night it was already float¬
ing under the immense body of the iceberg. At three in the
morning I was awakened by a violent shock. I sat up in my,
bed and listened in the darkness, when I was thrown into
the middle of the room. The Nautilus, after having struck,
had rebounded violently. I groped along the partition, and

236 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

by the staircase to the saloon, which was lit by the luminous
ceiling. The furniture was upset. Fortunately the windows
were firmly set, and had held fast. The pictures on the star¬
board-side, from being no longer vertical, were clinging to
the paper, whilst those of the port-side were hanging at least
a foot from the wall. The Nautilus was lying on its star¬
board side perfectly motionless. I heard footsteps, and a
confusion of voices; but Captain Nemo did not appear. As
I was leaving the saloon, Ned Land and Conseil entered.

“What is the matter?” said I, at once.

“I came to ask you, sir,” replied Conseil.

“Confound it! ” exclaimed the Canadian, “I know well
enoughl The Nautilus has struck; and judging by the way
she lies, I do not think she will right herself as she did the
first time in Torres Straits.”

“But,” I asked, “has she at least come to the surface of
the sea?”

“We do not know,” said Conseil.

“It is easy to decide,” I answered. I consulted the manom¬
eter. To my great surprise it showed a depth of more than
180 fathoms. “What does that mean?” I exclaimed.

“We must ask Captain Nemo,” said Conseil.

“But where shall we find him?” said Ned Land.

“Follow me,” said I, to my companions.

We left the saloon. There was no one in the library. At
the centre staircase, by the berths of the ship’s crew, there
was no one. I thought that Captain Nemo must be in the
pilot’s cage. It was best to wait. We all returned to the sa¬
loon. For twenty minutes we remained thus, trying to hear
the slightest noise which might be made on board the Nau¬
tilus, when Captain Nemo entered. He seemed not to see us;
his face, generally so impassive, showed signs of uneasiness.
He watched the compass silently, then the manometer; and
going to the planisphere, placed his finger on a spot repre¬
senting the southern seas. I would not interrupt him; but
some minutes later, when he turned towards me, I said, us¬
ing one of his own expressions in the Torres Straits —

“An incident, Captain?”

“No, sir; an accident this time.”

“Serious?”

“Perhaps.”

“Is the danger immediate?”

ACCIDENT OR INCIDENT

237

“No.”

“The Nautilus has stranded?”

“Yes.”

“And this has happened — how?”

“From a caprice of nature, not from the ignorance of
man. Not a mistake has been made in the working. But we
cannot prevent equilibrium from producing its effects. We
may brave human laws, but we cannot resist natural ones.”

Captain Nemo had chosen a strange moment for uttering
this philosophical reflection. On the whole, his answer helped
me little.

“May I ask sir, the cause of this accident?”

“An enormous block of ice, a whole mountain, has turned
over,” he replied. “When icebergs are undermined at their
base by warmer water or reiterated shocks, their centre of
gravity rises, and the whole thing turns over. This is what
has happened; one of these blocks, as it fell, struck the
Nautilus, then, gliding under its hull, raised it with irresist¬
ible force, bringing it into beds which are not so thick,
where it is lying on its side.”

‘‘But can we not get the Nautilus off by emptying its res-
servoirs, that it may regain its equilibrium?”

“That, sir, is being done at this moment. You can hear the
pump working. Look at the needle of the manometer; it
shows that the Nautilus is rising, but the block of ice is ris¬
ing with it; and, until some obstacle stops its ascending mo¬
tion, our position cannot be altered.”

Indeed, the Nautilus still held the same position to star¬
board; doubtless it would right itself when the block
stopped. But at this moment who knows if we may not be
frightfully crushed between the two glassy surfaces? I re¬
flected on all the consequences of our position.

Captain Nemo never took his eyes off the manometer.
Since the fall of the iceberg, the Nautilus had risen about a
hundred and fifty feet, but it still made the same angle
with the perpendicular. Suddenly a slight movement was felt
in the hold. Evidently it was righting a little. Things hang¬
ing in the saloon were sensibly returning to their normal
position. The partitions were nearing the upright. No one
spoke. With beating hearts we watched and felt the straight¬
ening. The boards became horizontal under our feet. Ten
minutes passed.

238 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“At last we have righted! ” I exclaimed.

“Yes,” said Captain Nemo, going to the door of the saloon.

“But are we floating?” I asked.

“Certainly,” he replied; “since the reservoirs are not
empty; and, when empty, the Nautilus must rise to the sur¬
face of the sea.”

We were in open sea; but at a distance of about ten yards,
on either side of the Nautilus, rose a dazzling wall of ice.
Above and beneath the same wall. Above, because the lower
surface of the iceberg stretched over us like an immense
ceiling. Beneath, because the overturned block, having slid
by degrees, had found a resting place on the lateral walls,
which kept it in that position. The Nautilus was really im¬
prisoned in a perfect tunnel of ice more than twenty yards
in breadth, filled with quiet water. It was easy to get out of
it by going either forward or backward, and then make a
free passage under the icberg, some hundreds of yards
deeper. The luminous ceiling had been extinguished, but
the saloon was still resplendent with intense light. It was
the powerful reflection from the glass partition sent vio¬
lently back to the sheets of the lantern. I cannot describe
the effect of the voltaic rays upon the great blocks so ca¬
priciously cut; upon very angle, every ridge, every facet
was thrown a different light, according to the nature of the
veins running through the ice; a dazzling mine of gems,
particularly of sapphires, their blue rays crossing with the
green of the emerald. Here and there were 'opal shades of
wonderful softness, running through bright spots like di¬
amonds of fire, the brilliancy of which the eye could not
bear. The power of the lantern seemed increased a hundred¬
fold, like a lamp through the lenticular plates of a first-class
lighthouse.

“How beautiful I how beautiful ! ” cried Conseil.

“Yes,” I said, “it is a wonderful sight. Is it not, Ned?”

“Yes, confound it! Yes,” answered Ned Land, “it is su¬
perb! I am mad at being obliged to admit it. No one has
ever seen anything like it; but the sight may cost us dear.
And if I must say all, I think we are seeing here things which
God never intended man to see.”

• Ned was right, it was too beautiful. Suddenly a cry from
Conseil made me turn.

“What is it?” I asked.

ACCIDENT OR INCIDENT 239

“Shut your eyes, sir! do not look, sir!” Saying which,
Conseil clapped his hands over his eyes.

“But what is the matter, my boy?”

“I am dazzled, blinded.”

My eyes turned involuntarily towards the glass, but I
could not stand the fire which seemed to devour them. I un¬
derstood what had happened. The Nautilus had put on full
speed. All the quiet lustre of the ice-walls was at once changed
into flashes of lightning. The fire from these myriads of dia¬
monds was blinding. It required some time to calm our trou¬
bled looks. At last the hands were taken down.

“Faith, I should never have believed it,” said Conseil.

It was then five in the morning; and at that moment a
shock was felt at the bows of the Nautilus. I knew that its
spur had struck a block of ice. It must have been a false ma¬
noeuvre, for this submarine tunnel, obstructed by blocks,
was not very easy navigation. I thought that Captain Nemo,
by changing his course, would turn these obstacles, or else
follow the windings of the tunnel. In any case, the road be¬
fore us could not be entirely blocked. But, contrary to my
expectations, the Nautilus took a decided retrograde mo¬
tion.

“We are going backwards?” said Conseil.

“Yes,” I replied. “This end of the tunnel can have no
egress.”

“And then?”

“Then,” said I, “the working is easy. We must go back
again, and go out at the southern opening. That is all.”

In speaking thus, I wished to appear more confident than
I really was. But the retrograde motion of the Nautilus was
increasing; and, reversing the screw it carried us at great
speed.

“It will be a hindrance,” said Ned.

“What does it matter, some hours more or less, provided
we get out at last!”

“Yes,” repeated Ned Land, “provided we do get out at
last!”

For a short time I walked from the saloon to the library.
My companions were silent. I soon threw myself on an ot¬
toman, and took a book, which my eyes overran mechani¬
cally. A quarter of an hour after, Conseil, approaching me,
said, “Is what you are reading very interesting, sir?”

240 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“Very interesting!” I replied.

“I should think so, sir. It is your own book you are read¬
ing.”

“My book?”

And indeed I was holding in my hand the work on the
“Great Submarine Depths.” I did not even dream of it. I
dosed the book, and returned to my walk. Ned and Conseil
rose to go.

“Stay here, my friends,” said I, detaining them. “Let us
remain together until we are out of this block.”

“As you please, sir,” Conseil replied.

Some hours passed. I often looked at the instruments
hanging from the partition. The manometer showed that the
Nautilus kept at a constant depth of more than three hun¬
dred yards; the compass still pointed to the south; the log
indicated a speed of twenty miles an hour, which, in such
cramped space, was very great. But Captain Nemo knew
that he could not hasten too much, and that minutes were
worth ages to us. At twenty-five minutes past eight a second
shock took place, this time from behind. I turned pale. My
companions were close by my side. I seized Conseil’s hand.
Our looks expressed our feelings better than words. At this
moment the Captain entered the saloon. I went up to him.

“Our course is barred southward?” I asked.

“Yes, sir. The iceberg has shifted, and closed every out¬
let.”

“We are blocked up, then?”

“Yes.”

16. Want of Air

Thus, around the Nautilus, above and below, was an im¬
penetrable wall of ice. We were prisoners to the iceberg. I
watched the Captain. His countenance had resumed its ha¬
bitual imperturbability.

“Gentlemen,” he said, calmly, “there are two ways of dy¬
ing in the circumstances in which we are placed.” (This in¬
explicable person had the air of a mathematical professor
lecturing to his pupils.) “The first is to be crushed; the sec¬
ond is to die of suffocation. I do not speak of the possibility
of dying of hunger, for the supply of provisions in the Nau-

WANT OF AIR 241

tilus will certainly last longer than we shall. Let us then cal¬
culate our chances.”

“As to suffocation, Captain,” I replied, “that is not to be
feared, because our reservoirs are full.”

“Just so; but they will only yield two days’ supply of
air. Now, for thirty-six hours we have been hidden under
the water, and already the heavy atmosphere of the Nautilus
requires renewal. In forty-eight hours our reserve will be
exhausted.”

“Well, Captain, can we be delivered before forty-eight
hours?”

“We will attempt it, at least, by piercing the wall that
surrounds us.”

“On which side?”

“Sound will tell us. I am going to run the Nautilus
aground on the lower bank, and my men will attack the ice¬
berg on the side that is least thick.”

Captain Nemo went out. Soon I discovered by a hissing
noise that the water was entering the reservoirs. The Nau¬
tilus sank slowly, and rested on the ice at a depth of 350
yards, the depth at which the lower bank was immersed.

“My friends,” I said, “our situation is serious, but I rely
on your courage and energy.”

“Sir,” replied the Canadian, “I am ready to do anything
for the general safety.”

“Goodl Ned,” and I held out my hand to the Canadian.

“I will add,” he continued, “that being as handy with
the pickaxe as with the harpoon, if I can be useful to the
Captain, he can command my services.”

“He will not refuse your help. Come, Nedl ”

I led him to the room where the crew of the Nautilus were
putting on their cork-jackets. I told the Captain of Ned’s
proposal, which he accepted. The Canadian put on his
sea-costume, and was ready as soon as his companions.
When Ned was dressed, I re-entered the drawing-room,
where the panes of glass were open, and, posted near Con-
seil, r'examined the ambient beds that supported the Nau¬
tilus. Some instants after, we saw a dozen of the crew set on
foot on the bank of ice, and among them Ned Land, easily
known by his stature. Captain Nemo was with them. Be¬
fore proceeding to dig the walls, he took, the soundings, to
be sure of working in the right direction. Long soundling

242 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

lines were sunk in the side walls, but after fifteen yards they
were again stopped by the thick wall. It was useless to at¬
tack it on the ceiling-like surface, since the iceberg itself
measured more than 400 yards in height. Captain Nemo
then sounded the lower surface. There ten yards of wall
separated us from the water, so great was the thickness of
the ice-field. It was necessary, therefore, to cut from it a
piece equal in extent to the waterline of the Nautilus.

There were about 6000 cubic yards to detach, so as to
dig a hole by which we could descend to the ice-field. The
work was begun immediately, and carried on with indefati¬
gable energy. Instead of digging round the Nautilus, which
would have involved greater difficulty, Captain Nemo had
an immense trench made at eight yards from the port quar¬
ter. Then the men set to work simultaneously with their
screws, on several points of its circumference. Presently the
pickaxe attacked this compact matter vigorously, and large
blocks were detached from the mass. By a curious effect of
specific gravity, these blocks, lighter than water, fled, so to
speak, to the vault of the tunnel, that increased in thick¬
ness at the top in proportion as it diminished at the base.
But that mattered little, so long as the lower part grew thin¬
ner. After two hours’ hard work, Ned Land came in ex¬
hausted. He and his comrades were replaced by new work¬
ers, whom Conseil and I joined. The second lieutenant of
the Nautilus superintended us. The water seemed singu¬
larly cold, but I soon got warm handling the pickaxe. My
movements were free enough, although they were made
under a pressure of thirty atmospheres. When I reentered,
after working two hours, to take some food and rest, I found
a perceptible difference between the pure fluid with which
the Rouquayrol engine supplied me, and the atmosphere of
the Nautilus, already charged with carbonic acid. The air
had not been renewed for forty-eight hours, and its vivifying
qualities were considerably enfeebled. However, after a
lapse of twelve hours, we had only raised a block of ice one
yard thick, on the marked surface, which was about 6000
cubic yards 1 Reckoning that it took twelve hours to ac¬
complish this much, it would take five nights and four days
to bring this enterprise to a satisfactory conclusion. Five
nights and four days! And we have only air enough for
two days in the reservoirs? “Without taking into account,”

WANT OF AIR 243

said Ned, “that, even if we get out of this infernal prison,
we shall also be imprisoned under the iceberg, shut out from
all possible communication with the atmosphere.” True
enough I Who could then foresee the minimum of time
necessary for our deliverance? We might be suffocated be¬
fore the Nautilus could regain the surface of the waves I
Was it destined to perish in this ice-tomb, with all those it
enclosed? The situation was terrible. But every one had
looked the danger in the face, and each was determined to
do his duty to the last.

As I expected, during the night a new block a yard square
was carried away, and still further sank the immense hol¬
low. But in the morning when, dressed in my cork-jacket, I
traversed the slushy mass at a temperature of six or seven
degrees below zero, I remarked that the side walls were
gradually closing in. The beds of water farthest from the
trench, that were not wanned by the men’s mere work,
showed a tendency to solidification. In presence of this new
and imminent danger, what would become of our chances of
safety, and how hinder the solidification of this liquid me¬
dium, that would burst the partitions of the Nautilus like
glass?

I did not tell my companions of this new danger. What
was the good of dampening the energy they displayed in the
painful work of escape? But when I went on board again, I
told Captain Nemo of this grave complication.

“I know it,” he said, in that calm tone which could coun¬
teract the most terrible apprehensions. “It is one danger
more; but I see no way of escaping it; the only chance of
safety is to go quicker than solidification. We must be before¬
hand with it, that is all.”

On this day for several hours I used my pickaxe vigor¬
ously. The work kept me up. Besides, to work was to quit
the Nautilus, and breathe directly the pure air drawn from
the reservoirs, and supplied by your apparatus, and to quit
the impoverished and vitiated atmosphere. Towards eve¬
ning the trench was dug one yard deeper. When I returned
on board, I was nearly suffocated by the carbonic acid with
which the air was filled — ah! if we had only the chemical
means to drive away this deleterious gas. We had plenty of
oxygen; all this water contained a considerable quantity,
and by dissolving it with our powerful piles, it would restore

244 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

the vivifying fluid. I had thought well over it; but of what
good was that, since the carbonic acid produced by our
respiration had invaded every part of the vessel? To absorb
it, it was necessary to fill some jars with caustic potash, and
to shake them incessantly. Now this substance was wanting
on board and nothing could replace it. On that evening, Cap¬
tain Nemo ought to open the taps of his reservoirs, and let
some pure air into the interior of the Nautilus; without this
precaution, we could not get rid of the sense of suffocation.
The next day, 26th of March, I resumed my miner’s work
in beginning the fifth yard. The side walls and the lower
surface of the iceberg thickened visibly. It was evident that
they would meet before the Nautilus was able to disengage
itself. Despair seized me for an instant, my pickaxe nearly
fell from my hands. What was the good of digging if I must
be suffocated, crushed by the water that was turning into
stone? — a punishment that the ferocity of the savage even
would not have invented! Just then Captain Nemo passed
near me. I touched his hand and showed him the walls of
our prison. The wall to port had advanced to at least four
yards from the hull of the Nautilus. The Captain understood
me, and signed to me to follow him. We went on board.
I took off my cork-jacket, and accompanied him into the
dining-room.

“M. Aronnax, we must attempt some desperate means, or
we shall be sealed up in this solidified water as in cement.”

“Yes; but what is to be done?”

“Ahl if my Nautilus were strong enough to bear this pres¬
sure without being crushed! ”

“Well?” I asked, not catching the Captain’s idea.

“Do you not understand,” he replied, “that this con¬
gelation of water will help us? Do you not see that, by its
solidification, it would burst through this field of ice that
imprisons us, as, whegi it freezes, it bursts the hardest
stones? Do you not perceive that it would be an agent of
safety instead of destruction?”

“Yes, Captain, perhaps. But whatever resistance to crush¬
ing the Nautilus possesses, it could not support this terrible
pressure, and would be flattened like an iron plate.”

“I know it, sir. Therefore we must not reckon on the aid
of nature, but on our own exertions. We must stop this solid¬
ification. Not only will the side walls be pressed together;

WANT OF AIR 245

but there is not ten feet of water before or behind the Nau¬
tilus. The congelation gains on us on all sides.”

“How long will the air in the reservoirs last for us to
breathe on board?”

The Captain looked in my face. “After tomorrow they will
be empty.”

A cold sweat came over me. However, ought I to have
been astonished at the answer? On March 22d, the Nau¬
tilus was in the open polar seas. We were at 26°. For five
days we had lived on the reserve on board. And what was
left of the respirable air must be kept for the workers. Even
now, as I write, my recollection is still so vivid, that an in¬
voluntary terror seizes me, and my lungs seem to be with¬
out air. Meanwhile Captain Nemo reflected silently, and
evidently an idea had struck him; but he seemed to re¬
ject it. At last, these words escaped his lips —

“Boiling water!” he muttered.

“Boiling water?” I cried.

“Yes, sir. We are enclosed in a space that is relatively
confined. Would not jets of boiling water, constantly in¬
jected by the pumps, raise the temperature in this part, and
stay the congelation?”

“Let us try it,” I said, resolutely.

“Let us try, Professor.”

The thermometer then stood at seven degrees outside.
Captain Nemo took me to the galleys, where the vast distil¬
latory machines stood that furnished the drinkable water
by evaporation. They filled these with water, and all the
electric heat from the piles was thrown through the worms
bathed in the liquid. In a few minutes this water reached a
hundred degrees. It was directed towards the pumps, while
fresh water replaced it in proportion. The heat developed by
the troughs was such that cold water, drawn up from the
sea, after only having gone through the machines, came boil¬
ing into the body of the pump. The injection was begun, and
three hours after the thermometer marked six degrees below
zero outside. One degree was gained. Two hours later, the
thermometer only marked four degrees.

“We shall succeed,” I said to the Captain, after having
anxiously watched the result of the operation.

“I think,” he answered, “that we shall not be crushed.
We have no more than suffocation to fear.”

246 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

During the night the temperature of the water rose to
one degree below zero. The injections could not carry it to
a higher point. But as the congelation of the sea-water pro¬
duces at least two degrees, I was at last reassured against
the dangers of solidification.

The next day, March 27th, six yards of ice hadjjeen
cleared, four yards only remaining to be cleared away. There
was yet forty-eight hours’ work. The air could not be re¬
newed in the interior of the Nautilus. And this day would
make it worse. An intolerable weight oppressed me. To¬
wards three o’clock in the evening, this feeling rose to a vi¬
olent degree. Yawns dislocated my jaws. My lungs panted
as they inhaled this burning fluid, which became rarefied
more and more. A mortal torpor took hold of me. I was pow¬
erless, almost unconscious. My brave Conseil, though exhib¬
iting the same symptoms and suffering in the same manner,
never left me. He took my hand and encouraged me, and I
heard him murmur, “Oh, if I could only not breathe,
so as to leave more air for my master! ”

Tears came into my eyes on hearing him speak thus. If
our situation to all was intolerable in the interior, with what
haste and gladness would we put on our cork-jackets to
work in our turn! Pickaxes sounded on the frozen ice-beds.
Our arms ached, the skin was torn off our hands. But what
were these fatigues, what did the wounds matter? Vital air
came to our lungs! we breathed ! we breathed!

All this time, no one prolonged his voluntary task be¬
yond the prescribed time. His task accomplished, each one
handed in turn to his panting companions the apparatus that
supplied him with life. Captain Nemo set the example, and
submitted first to this severe discipline. When the time
came, he gave up his apparatus to another, and returned to
the vitiated air on board, calm, unflinching, unmurmuring.

On that day the ordinary work was accomplished with
unusual vigour. Only two yards remained to be raised from
the surface. Two yards only separated us from the open
sea. But the reservoirs were nearly emptied of air. The lit¬
tle that remained ought to be kept for the workers; not a
particle for the Nautilus. When I went back on board, I
was half suffocated. What a night! I know not how to de¬
scribe it. The next day my breathing was oppressed. Diz¬
ziness accompanied the pain in my head, and made me like

WANT OF AIR 247

a drunken man. My companions showed the same symp¬
toms. Some of the crew had rattling in the throat.

On that day, the sixth of our imprisonment, Captain
Nemo, finding the pickaxes work too slowly, resolved to
crush the ice-bed that still separated us from the liquid
sheet. This man’s coolness and energy never forsook him.
He subdued his physical pains by moral force.

By his orders the vessel was lightened, that is to say,
raised from the ice-bed by a change of specific gravity.
When it floated they towed it so as to bring it above the
immense trench made on the level of the water-line. Then
filling his reservoirs of water, he descended and shut himself
up in the hole.

Just then all the crew came on board, and the double
door of communication was shut. The Nautilus then rested
on the bed of ice, which was not one yard thick, and which
the sounding leads had perforated in a thousand places.
The taps of the reservoir were then opened, and a hundred
cubic yards of water was let in, increasing the weight of the
Nautilus 1800 tons. We waited, we listened, forgetting our
sufferings in hope. Our safety depended on this last chance.
Notwithstanding the buzzing in my head, I soon heard
the humming sound under the hull of the Nautilus. The
ice cracked with a singular noise, like tearing paper, and
the Nautilus sank.

“We are off I ” murmured Conseil in my ear.

I could not answer him. I seized his hand, and pressed it
convulsively. All at once, carried away by its frightful over¬
charge, the Nautilus sank like a bullet under the waters,
that is to say, it fell as if it were in a vacuum. Then all the
electric force was put on the pumps, that soon began to let
the water out of the reservoirs. After some minutes, our fall
was stopped. Soon, too, the manometer indicated an as¬
cending movement. The screw, going at full speed, made
the iron hull tremble to its very bolts, and drew us towards
the north. But if this floating under the iceberg is to last
another day before we reach the open sea, I shall be dead
first.

Half stretched upon a divan in the library, I was suffo¬
cating. My face was purple, my lips blue, my faculties sus¬
pended. I neither saw nor heard. All notion of time had
gone from my mind. My muscles could not contract. I do

248 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

not know how many hours passed thus, but I was conscious
of the agony that was coming over me. I felt as if I was
going to die. Suddenly I came to. Some breaths of air pene¬
trated my lungs. Had we risen to the surface of the waves?
Were we free of the iceberg? No; Ned and Conseil, my
two brave friends, were sacrificing themselves to save me.
Some particles of air still remained at the bottom of one
apparatus. Instead of using it, they had kept it for me, and
while they were being suffocated, they gave me life drop by
drop. I wanted to push back the thing; they held my hands,
and for some moments I breathed freely. I looked at the
clock; it was eleven in the morning. It ought to be the
28th of March. The Nautilus went at a frightful pace, forty
miles an hour. It literally tore through the water. Where
was Captain Nemo? Had he succumbed? Were his com¬
panions dead with him? At the moment, the manometer
indicated that we were not more than twenty feet from the
surface. A mere plate of ice separated us from the atmos¬
phere, could we not break it? Perhaps. In any case the
Nautilus was going to attempt it. I felt that it was in an
oblique position, lowering the stern, and raising the bows.
The introduction of water had been the means of disturb¬
ing its equilibrium. Then, impelled by its powerful screw,
it attacked the ice-field from beneath like a formidable bat¬
tering-ram. It broke it by backing and then rushing for¬
ward against the field, which gradually gave way; and at
last, dashing suddenly against it, shot forward on the icy
field, that crushed beneath its weight. The panel was
opened — one might say torn off — and the pure air came
in in abundance to all parts of the Nautilus.

17. From Cape Horn to the Amazon

How I got on to the platform, I have no idea; perhaps the
Canadian had carried me there. But I breathed, I inhaled
the vivifying sea-air. My two companions were getting'
drunk with the fresh particles. The other unhappy men
had been so long without food, that they could not with
impunity indulge in the simplest aliments that were given
them. We, on the contrary, had no need to restrain our¬
selves; we could draw this air freely into our lungs, and it

FROM CAPE HORN TO THE AMAZON 249

was the breeze, the breeze alone, that filled us with this
keen enjoyment.

“Ah!” said Conseil, “how delightful this oxygen is! Mas¬
ter need not fear to breathe it. There is enough for every¬
body.”

Ned Land did not speak, but he opened his jaws wide
enough to frighten a shark. Our strength soon returned, and
when I looked round me, I saw we were alone on the plat¬
form. The foreign seamen in the Nautilus were contented
with the air that circulated in the interior; none of them
had come to drink in the open air.

The first words I spoke were words of gratitude and
thankfulness to my two companions. Ned and Conseil had
prolonged my life during the last hours of this long agony.
All my gratitude could not repay such devotion.

“My friends,” said I, “we are bound one to the other
for ever, and I am under infinite obligations to you.”

“Which I shall take advantage of,” exclaimed the Cana¬
dian.

“What do you mean?” said Conseil.

“I mean that I shall take you with me when I leave this
infernal Nautilus.”

“Well,” said Conseil, “after all this, are we going right?”

“Yes,” I replied, “for we are going the way of the sun,
and here the sun is in the north.”

“No doubt,” said Ned Land; “but it remains to be seen
whether he will bring the ship into the Pacific or the Atlan¬
tic Ocean, that is, into frequented or deserted seas.”

I could not answer that question, and I feared that Cap¬
tain Nemo would rather take us to the vast ocean that
touches the coasts of Asia and America at the same time.
He would thus complete the tour round the submarine
world, and return to those waters in which the Nautilus
could sail freely. We ought, before long, to settle this im¬
portant point. The Nautilus went at a rapid pace. The po¬
lar circle was soon passed, and the course shaped for Cape
Horn. We were off the American point, March 31st, at
seven o’clock in the evening. Then all our past sufferings
were forgotten. The remembrance of that imprisonment in
the ice was effaced from our minds. We only thought of the
future. Captain Nemo did not appear again either in the
drawing-room or on the platform. The point shown each

250 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

day on the planisphere,, and marked by the lieutenant,
showed me the exact direction of the Nautilus. Now, on
that evening, it was evident, to my great satisfaction, that
we were going back to the north by the Atlantic. The next
day, April 1st, when the Nautilus ascended to the surface,
some minutes before noon, we sighted land to the west. It
was Terra del Fuego, which the first navigators named
thus from seeing the quantity of smoke that rose from the
natives’ huts. The coast seemed low to me, but in the dis¬
tance rose high mountains. I even thought I had a glimpse
of Mount Sarmiento, that rises 2070 yards above the level
of the sea, with a very pointed summit, which, according
as it is misty or clear, is a sign of fine or wet weather. At
this moment, the peak was clearly defined against the sky.
The Nautilus, diving again under the water, approached
the coast, which was only some few miles off. From the
glass windows in the drawing-room, I saw long seaweeds,
and gigantic fuci, and varech, of which the open polar sea
contains so many specimens, with their sharp polished fila¬
ments; they measured about 300 yards in length, — real
cables, thicker than one’s thumb; and having great tenac¬
ity, they are often used as ropes for vessels. Another weed
known as velp, with leaves four feet long, buried in the
coral concretions, hung at the bottom. It served as nest and
food for myriads of Crustacea and molluscs, crabs and cut¬
tle-fish. There seals and otters had splendid repasts, eating
the flesh of fish with sea-vegetables, according to the Eng¬
lish fashion. Over this fertile and luxuriant ground the
Nautilus passed with great rapidity. Towards evening, it
approached the Falkland group, the rough summits of
which I recognised the following day. The depth of the sea
was moderate. On the shores, our nets brought in beautiful
specimens of seaweed, and particularly a certain fucus, the
roots of which were filled with the best mussels in the
world. Geese and ducks fell by dozens on the platform,
and soon took their places in the pantry on board. With
regard to fish, I observed especially specimens of the goby
species, some two feet long, all over white and yellow spots.
I admired also numerous medusae, and the finest of the
sort, the crysaora, peculiar to the sea about the Falkland
Isles. I should have liked to preserve some specimens of
these delicate zoophytes: but they are only like clouds,

FROM CAPE HORN TO THE AMAZON 251

shadows, apparitions, that sink and evaporate when out of
their native element.

When the last heights of the Falklands had disappeared
from the horizon, the Nautilus sank to between twenty and
twenty-five yards, and followed the American coast. Cap¬
tain Nemo did not show himself. Until the 3d of April we
did not quit the shores of Patagonia, sometimes under the
ocean, sometimes at the surface. The Nautilus passed beyond
the large estuary formed by the mouth of the Plata, and
was, on the 4th of April, fifty-six miles off Uruguay. Its di¬
rection was northwards, and followed the long windings
of the coast of South America. We had then made 16,000
leagues since our embarkation in the seas of Japan. About
eleven o’clock in the morning the tropic of Capricorn was
crossed on the thirty-seventh meridian, and we passed Cape
Frio standing out to sea. Captain Nemo, to Ned Land’s
great displeasure, did not like the neighbourhood of the in¬
habited coasts of Brazil, for we went at a giddy speed. Not
a fish, not a bird of the swiftest kind could follow us, and
the natural curiosities of these seas escaped all observation.

This speed was kept up for several days, and in the eve¬
ning of the 9th of April we sighted the most westerly point
oifc South America that forms Cape San Roque. But then
the Nautilus swerved again, and sought the lowest depth
of a. submarine valley which is between this cape and Sierra
Leone on the African coast. This valley bifurcates to the
parallel of the Antilles, and terminates at the north by the
enormous depression of 9000 yards. In this place, the geo¬
logical basin of the ocean forms, as far as the Lesser An¬
tilles, a cliff of three and a half miles perpendicular in
height, and at the parallel of the Cape Verde Islands, an¬
other wall not less considerable, that encloses thus all
the sunk continent of the Atlantic. The bottom of this im¬
mense valley is dotted with some mountains, that give to
these submarine places a picturesque aspect. I speak, more¬
over, from the manuscript charts that were in the library
of the Nautilus — charts evidently due to Captain Nemo’s
hand, and made after his personal observations. For two
days the desert and deep waters were visited by means of
the inclined planes. The Nautilus was furnished with long
diagonal broadsides which carried it to all elevations. But,
on the 11th of April, it rose suddenly, and land appeared at

252 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

the mouth of the Amazon River, a vast estuary, the em¬
bouchure of which is so considerable that it freshens the
sea-water for the distance of several leagues.

The equator was crossed. Twenty miles to the west were
the Guianas, a French territory, on which we could have
found an easy refuge; but a stiff breeze was blowing, and
the furious waves would not have allowed a single boat to
face them. Ned Land understood that, no doubt, for he
spoke not a word about it. For my part, I made no allu¬
sion to his schemes of flight, for I would not urge him to
make an attempt that must inevitably fail. I made the
time pass pleasantly by interesting studies. During the
days of April 11th and 12th, the Nautilus did not leave
the surface of the sea, and the net brought in a marvellous
haul of zoophytes, fish and reptiles. Some zoophytes had
been fished up by the chain of the nets; they were for the
most part beautiful phyctallines, belonging to the actinid-
ian family, and among other species the phyctalis pro-
texta, peculiar to that part of the ocean, with a little cylin¬
drical trunk, ornamented with vertical lines, speckled with
red dots, crowning a marvellous blossoming of tentacles.
As to the molluscs, they consisted of some I had already
observed — turritellas, olive porphyras, with regular lines
intercrossed, with red spots standing out plainly against
the flesh; odd pteroceras, like petrified scorpions; trans'
lucid hyaleas, argonauts, cuttle-fish (excellent eating), and
certain species of calmars that naturalists of antiquity have
classed amongst the flying-fish, and that serve principally
for bait for cod-fishing. I had now an opportunity of study¬
ing several species of fish on these shores. Amongst the car¬
tilaginous ones, petromyzons-pricka, a sort of eel, fifteen
inches long, with a greenish head, violet fins, grey-blue
back, brown belly, silvered and sown with bright spots, the
pupil of the eye encircled with gold — a curious animal, that
the on-rent of the Amazon had drawn to the sea, for they
inhabit fresh waters — tuberculated streaks, with pointed
snouts, and a long loose tail, armed with a long jagged
sting; little sharks, a yard long, grey and whitish skin,
and several rows of teeth, bent back, that are generally
known by the name of pantouffles; vespertilios, a kind of
red isosceles triangle, half a yard long, to which pectorals
are attached by fleshy prolongations that make them look

FROM CAPE HORN TO THE AMAZON 253

like bats, but that their horny appendage, situated near the
nostrils, has given them the name of sea-unicorns; lastly,
some species of balistae, the curassavian, whose spots were
of a brilliant gold colour, and the capriscus of clear violet,
and with varying shades like a pigeon’s throat.

I end here this catalogue, which is somewhat dry per¬
haps, but very exact, with a series of bony fish that I ob¬
served in passing belonging to the apteronotes, and whose
snout is white as snow, the body of a beautiful black,
marked with a very long loose fleshy strip; odontognathes,
armed with spikes; sardines, nine inches long, glittering
with a bright silver light; a species of mackerel provided
with two anal fins; centronotes of a blackish tint, that are
fished for with torches, long fish, two yards in length, with
fat flesh, white and firm, which, when they are fresh, taste
like eel, and when dry, like smoked salmon; labres, half
red, covered with scales only at the bottom of the dorsal
and anal fins; chrysoptera, on which gold and silver blend
their brightness with that of the ruby and topaz; golden¬
tailed spares, the flesh of which is extremely delicate, and
whose phosphorescent properties betray them in the midst
of the waters; orange-coloured spares with long tongues;
maigres, with gold caudal fins, dark thorn-tails, anableps
of Surinam, etc.

Notwithstanding this “et cetera,” I must not omit to
mention fish that Conseil will long remember, and with
good reason. One of our nets had hauled up a sort of very
flat ray fish, which, with the tail cut off, formed a perfect
disc, and weighed twenty ounces. It was white underneath,
red above, with large round spots of dark blue encircled
with black, very glossy skin, terminating in a bilobed fin.
Laid out on the platform, it struggled, tried to turn itself
by convulsive movements, and made so many efforts, that
one last turn had nearly sent it into the sea. But Conseil,
not wishing to let the fish go, rushed to it, and, before I
could prevent him, had seized it with both hands. In a mo¬
ment he was overthrown, his legs in the air, and half his
body paralysed, crying —

“Oh! master, master! help me I”

It was the first time the poor boy had spoken to me so
familiarly. The Canadian and I took him up, and rubbed
his contracted arms till he became sensible. The unfortu-

2S4 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

nate Conseil had attacked a cramp-fish of the most danger¬
ous kind, the cumana. This odd animal, in a medium con¬
ductor like water, strikes fish at several yards’ distance, so
great is the power of its electric organ, the two principal
surfaces of which do not measure less than twenty-seven
square feet. The next day, April 12th, the Nautilus ap¬
proached the Dutch coast, near the mouth of the Maroni.
There several . groups of sea-cows herded together; they
were manatees, that, like the dugong and the stellera, be¬
long to the sirenian order. These beautiful animals, peace¬
able and inoffensive, from eighteen to twenty-one feet in
length, weigh at least sixteen hundredweight. I told Ned
Land and Conseil that provident nature had assigned an
important role to these mammalia. Indeed, they, like the
seals, are designed to graze on the submarine prairies, and
thus destroy the accumulation of weed that obstructs the
tropical rivers.

“And do you know,” I added, “what has been the result
since men have almost entirely annihilated this useful
race? That the putrefied weeds have poisoned the air, and
the poisoned air causes the yellow fever, that desolates
these beautiful countries. Enormous vegetations are multi¬
plied under the torrid seas, and the evil is irresistibly de¬
veloped from the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to Florida.
If we are to believe Toussenel, this plague is nothing to
what it would be if the seas were cleared of whales and
seals. Then, infested with poulps, medusae, and cuttle-fish,
they would become immense centres of infection, since their
waves would not possess ‘these vast stomachs that God had
charged to infest the surface of the seas.’ ”

However, without disputing these theories, the crew of
the Nautilus took possession of half a dozen manatees.
They provisioned the larders with excellent flesh, superior
to beef and veal. This sport was not interesting. The mana¬
tees allowed themselves to be hit without defending them¬
selves. Several thousand pounds of meat were stored up on
board to be dried. On this day, a successful haul of fish in¬
creased the stores of the Nautilus, so full of game were
these seas. They were echeneides belonging to the third
family of the malacopterygiens; their flattened discs were
composed of transverse movable cartilaginous plates, by
which the animal was enabled to create a vacuum, and so

THE POULPS

255

to adhere to any object like a cupping-glass. The remora
that I had observed in the Mediterranean belongs to this
species. But the one of which we are speaking was the
echeneis osteochera, peculiar to this sea.

The fishing over, the Nautilus neared the coast. About
here a number of sea-turtles were sleeping on the surface
of the water. It would have been difficult to capture these
precious reptiles, for the least noise awakens them, and
their solid shell is proof against the harpoon. But the eche¬
neis effects their capture with extraordinary precision and
certainty. This animal is, indeed, a living fishhook, which
would make the fortune of an inexperienced fisherman. The
crew of the Nautilus tied a ring to the tail of these fish, so
large as not to encumber their movements, and to this ring
a long cord, lashed to the ship’s side by the other end. The
echeneids, thrown into the sea, directly began their game,
and fixed themselves to the breast-plate of the turtles.
Their tenacity was such, that they were torn rather than
let go their hold. The men hauled them on board, and with
them the turtles to which they adhered. They took also
several cacouannes a yard long, which weighed 400 lbs.
Their carapace covered with large horny plates, thin, trans¬
parent, brown, with white and yellow spots, fetch a good
price in the market. Besides, they were excellent in an edi¬
ble point of view, as well as the fresh turtles, which have
an exquisite flavour. This day’s fishing brought to a close
our sjtay on the shores of the Amazon, and by nightfall the
Nautilus had regained the high seas.

18. The Poulps

For several days the Nautilus kept off from the American
coast. Evidently it did not wish to risk the tides of the Gulf
of Mexico, or of the sea of the Antilles. April 16th, we
sighted Martinique and Guadeloupe from a distance of
about thirty miles. I saw their tall peaks for an instant. The
Canadian, who counted on carrying out his projects in
the Gulf, by either landing, or hailing one of the numerous
boats that coast from one island to another, was quite dis¬
heartened. Flight would have been quite practicable, if
Ned Land had been able to take possession of the boat
without the Captain’s knowledge. But in the open sea it

256 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

could not be thought of. The Canadian, Conseil, and I, had
a long conversation on this subject. For six months we had
been prisoners on board the Nautilus. We had travelled
17,000 leagues; and, as Ned Land said, there was no reason
why it should not come to an end. We could hope nothing
from the Captain of the Nautilus, but only from ourselves.
Besides, for some time past he had become graver, more
retired, less sociable. He seemed to shun me. I met him
rarely. Formerly, he was pleased to explain the submarine
marvels to me; now, he left me to my studies, and came
no more to the saloon. What change had come over him?
For what cause? For my part, I did not wish to bury with
me my curious and novel studies. I had now the power to
write the true book of the sea; and this book, sooner or
later, I wished to see daylight. Then again, in the water of
the Antilles, ten yards below the surface of the waters, by
the open panels, what interesting products I had to enter
on my daily notes 1 There were, among other zoophytes,
those known under the name of physalis pelagica, a sort
of large oblong bladder, with mother-of-pearl rays, holding
out their membranes to the wind, and letting their blue ten¬
tacles float like threads of silk; charming medusae to the
eye, real nettles to the touch, that distil a corrosive fluid.
, There were also annelides, a yard and a half long, furnished
with a pink horn, and with 1700 locomotive organs, that
wind through the waters, and throw out in passing all the
light of the solar spectrum. There were, in the fish cate¬
gory, some Malabar rays, enormous gristly things, ten feet
long, weighing 600 pounds, the pectoral fin triangular in
the midst of a slightly humped back, the eyes fixed in the
extremities of the face, beyond the head, and which floated
like weft, and looked sometimes like an opaque shutter on
our glass window. There were American balistse, which
nature has only dressed in black and white; gobies, with
yellow fins and prominent jaw; mackerel sixteen feet long,
with short-pointed teeth, covered with small scales, belong¬
ing to the albicore species. Then, in swarms, appeared grey
mullet, covered with stripes of gold from the head to the
tail, beating their resplendent fins, like masterpieces of jew¬
ellery, consecrated formerly to Diana, particularly sought
after by rich Romans, and of which the proverb says,
“Whoever takes them does not eat them.” Lastly, poma-

THE POULPS

257

canthe dorees, ornamented with emerald bands, dressed in
velvet and silk, passed before our eyes like Veronese lords;
spurred spari passed with their pectoral fins; clupanodons
fifteen inches long, enveloped in their phosphorescent light;
mullet beat the sea with their large jagged tails; red ven-
daces seemed to mow the waves with their showy pectoral
fins; and silvery selenes, worthy of their name, rose on
the horizon of the waters like so many moons with whitish
rays. April 20th, we had risep to a mean height of 1500
yards. The land nearest us then was the archipelago of the
Bahamas. There rose high submarine cliffs covered with
large weeds, giant laminariae and fud, a perfect espalier
of hydrophytes worthy of a Titan world. It was about
eleven o’clock when Ned Land drew my attention to a for¬
midable pricking, like the sting of an ant, which was pro¬
duced by means of large seaweeds.

“Well,” I said, “these are proper caverns for poulps, and
I should not be astonished to see some of these monsters.”

“What!” said Conseil; “cuttle-fish, real cuttle-fish, of
the cephalopod class?”

“No,” I said; “poulps of huge dimensions.”

“I will never believe that such animals exist,” said Ned.

“Well,” said Conseil, with the most serious air in the
world; “I remember perfectly to have seen a large vessel
drawn under the waves by a cephalopod’s arm,”

“You saw that?” said the Canadian.

“Yes, Ned.”

“With your own eyes?”

“With my own eyes.”

“Where, pray, might that be?”

“At St. Malo,” answered Conseil.

“In the port?” said Ned, ironically.

“No; in a church,” replied Conseil.

“In a church 1 ” cried the Canadian.

“Yes, friend Ned. In a picture representing the poulp
in question.”

“Good! ” said Ned Land, bursting out laughing.

“He is quite right,” I said. “I have heard of this picture;
but the subject represented is taken from a legend, and you
know what to think of legends in the matter of natural his¬
tory.. Besides, when it is a question of monsters, the imagi¬
nation is apt to run wild. Not only is it supposed that these

258 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

poulps can draw down vessels, but a certain Olaiis Magnus
speaks of a cephalopod a mile long, that is more like an is¬
land than an animal. It is also said that the Bishop of
Nidros was building an altar on an immense rock. Mass
finished, the rock began to walk, and returned to the sea.
The rock was a poulp. Another bishop, POntoppidan, speaks
also of a poulp on which a regiment of cavalry could ma¬
noeuvre. Lastly, the ancient naturalists speak of monsters
whose mouths were like gulfs, and which were too large to
pass through the Straits of Gibraltar.”

“But how much is true of these stories?” asked Conseil.

“Nothing, my friends; at least of that which passes the
limit of truth to get to fable or legend. Nevertheless, there
must be some ground for the imagination of the story¬
tellers. One cannot deny that poulps and cuttle-fish exist of
a large species, inferior, however, to the cetaceans. Aris¬
totle has "stated the dimensions of a cuttle-fish as five cu¬
bits, or nine feet two inches. Our fishermen frequently see
some that are more than four feet long. Some skeletons of
poulps are preserved in the museums of Trieste and Mont¬
pelier, that measure two yards in length. Besides, according
to the calculations of some naturalists, one of these ani¬
mals, only six feet long, would have tentacles twenty-seven
feet long. That would suffice to make a formidable mon¬
ster.”

“Do they fish for them in these days?” asked Ned.

“If they do not fish for them, sailors see them at least.
One of my friends, Captain Paul Bos of Havre, has often
affirmed that he met one of these monsters, of colossal di¬
mensions, in the Indian seas. But the most astonishing fact,
and which does not permit of the denial of the existence of
these gigantic animals, happened some years ago, in 1861.”

“What is the fact?” asked Ned Land.

“This is it. In 1861, to the north-east of Teneriffe, very
nearly in the same latitude we are in now, the crew of the
despatch-boat Alector perceived a monstrous cuttle-fish
swimming in the waters. Captain Bouguer went near to the
animal, and attacked it with harpoons and guns, without
much success, for balls and harpoons glided over the soft
flesh. After several fruitless attempts, the crew tried to
pass a slip-knot round the body of the mollusc. The noose
slipped as far as the caudal fins, and there stopped. They

THE POULPS 259

tried then to haul it on board, but its weight was so con¬
siderable that the tightness of the cord separated the tail
from the body, and, deprived of this ornament, he disap¬
peared under the water.”

“Indeed I is that a fact?”

“An indisputable fact, my good Ned. They proposed to
name this poulp ‘Bouguer’s cuttle-fish.’ ”

“What length was it?” asked the Canadian.

“Did it not measure about six yards?” said Conseil, who,
posted at the window, was examining again the irregular
windings of the cliff.

“Precisely,” I replied.

“Its head,” rejoined Conseil, “was it not crowned with
eight tentacles, that beat the water like a nest of serpents?”

“Precisely.”

“Had not its eyes, placed at the back of its head, con¬
siderable development?”

“Yes, Conseil.”

“And was not its mouth like a parrot’s beak?”

“Exactly, Conseil.”

“Very welll no offence to master,” he replied, quietly;
“if this is not Bouguer’s cuttle-fish, it is, at least, one of its
brothers.”

I looked at Conseil. Ned hurried to the window.

“What a horrible beast I ” he cried.

I looked in my turn, and could not repress a gesture of
disgust. Before my eyes was a horrible monster, worthy to
figure in the legends of the marvellous. It was an immense
cuttle-fish, being eight yards long. It swam crossways in
the direction of the Nautilus with great speed, watching
us with its enormous staring green eyes. Its eight arms, or
rather feet, fixed to its head, that have given the name of
cephalopod to these animals, were twice as long as its body,
and were twisted like the furies’ hair. One could see the
250 air-holes on the inner side of the tentacles. The mon¬
ster’s mouth, a horned beak like a parrot’s, opened and
shut vertically. Its tongue, a horned substance, furnished
with several rows of pointed teeth, came out quivering from
this veritable pair of shears. What a freak of nature, a
bird’s beak on a mollusc! Its spindle-like body formed a
fleshy mass that might weigh 4000 to 5000 lbs.; the varying
colour changing with great rapidity, according to the irri-

260 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

tation of the animal, passed successively from livid grey to
reddish brown. What irritated this mollusc? No doubt the
presence of the Nautilus, more formidable than itself, and
on which its suckers or its jaws had no hold. Yet, what
monsters these poulps are! what vitality the Creator has
given theml what vigour in their movements! and they
possess three hearts! Chance had brought us in presence of
this cuttle-fish, and I did not wish to lose the opportunity
of carefully studying this specimen of cephalopods. I over¬
came the horror that inspired me; and, taking a pencil, be¬
gan to draw it.

“Perhaps this is the same which the Alector saw,” said
Conseil.

“No,” replied the Canadian; “for this is whole, and the
other had lost its tail.”

“That is no reason,” I replied. “The arms and tails of
these animals grow on again if broken off; and, in seven
years, the tail of Bouguer’s cuttle-fish has no doubt had
time to grow.”

By this time other poulps appeared at the port light. I
counted seven. They formed a procession after the Nau¬
tilus, and I heard their beaks gnashing against the iron
hull. I continued my work. These monsters kept in the wa¬
ter with such precision, that they seemed immovable. Sud¬
denly the Nautilus stopped. A shock made it tremble in
every plate.

“Have we struck anything?” I asked.

“In any case,” replied the Canadian, “we shall be free,
for we are floating.”

The Nautilus was floating, no doubt, but it did not move.
A minute passed. Captain Nemo, followed by his lieuten¬
ant, entered the drawing-room. I had not seen, him for some
time. He seemed dull. Without noticing or speaking to us,
he went to the panel, looked at the poulps, and said some¬
thing to his lieutenant. The latter went out. Soon the pan¬
els were shut. The ceiling was lighted. I went towards the
Captain.

“A curious collection of poulps?” I said.

“Yes, indeed, Mr. Naturalist,” he replied; “and we are
going to fight them, man to beast.”

I looked at him. I thought I had not heard aright.

“Man to beast?” I repeated.

THE POULPS 261

“Yes, sir. The screw is stopped. I think that the horny
jaws of one of the cuttle-fish is entangled in the blades.
That is what prevents our moving.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Rise to the surface, and slaughter this vermin.”

“A difficult enterprise.”

“Yes, indeed. The electric bullets are powerless against
the soft flesh, where they do not find resistance enough to
go off. But we shall attack them with the hatchet.”

“And the harpoon, sir,” said the Canadian, “if you do
not refuse my help.”

“I will accept it, Master Land.”

“We will follow y6u,” I said, and following Captain
Nemo, we went towards the central staircase.

There, about ten men with boarding hatchets were ready
for the attack. Conseil and I took two hatchets; Ned Land
seized a harpoon. The Nautilus had then risen to the sur¬
face. One of the sailors, posted on the top ladder-step, un¬
screwed the bolts of the panels. But hardly were the screws
loosed, when the panel rose with great violence, evidently
drawn by the suckers of a poulp’s arm. Immediately one
of these arms slid like a serpent down the opening, and
twenty others were above. With one blow of the axe, Cap¬
tain Nemo cut this formidable tentacle, that slid wriggling
down the ladder. Just as we were pressing one on the other
to reach the platform, two other arms, lashing the air, came
down on the seaman placed before Captain Nemo, and lifted
him up with irresistible power. Captain Nemo uttered a cry,
and rushed out. We hurried after him.

What a scene I The unhappy man, seized by the tenta¬
cle, and fixed to the suckers, was balanced in the air at the
caprice of this enormous trunk. He rattled in his throat,
he was stifled, he cried, “Help! helpl” These words, spoken
in French, startled me! I had a fellow-countryman on
board, perhaps several 1 That heartrending cry! I shall hear
it all my life. The unfortunate man was lost. Who could
rescue him from that powerful pressure? However, Cap¬
tain Nemo had rushed to the poulp, and with one blow of
the axe had cut through one arm. His lieutenant struggled
furiously against other monsters that crept on the flanks
of the Nautilus. The crew fought with their axes. The Ca¬
nadian, Conseil, and I, buried our weapons in the fleshy

262 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

masses; a strong smell of musk penetrated the atmosphere.

It was horrible I

For one instant, I thought the unhappy man, entangled
with the poulp, would be torn from its powerful suction.
Seven of the eight arms had been cut off. One only wrig¬
gled in the air, brandishing the victim like a feather. But
just as Captain Nemo and his lieutenant threw themselves
on it, the animal ejected a stream of black liquid. We were
blinded with it. Wien the cloud dispersed, the cuttle-fish
had disappeared, and my unfortunate countryman with’ it.
Ten or twelve poulps now invaded the platform and sides
of the Nautilus. We rolled pell-mell into the midst of this
nest of- serpents, that wriggled on the platform in the waves
of blood and ink. It seemed as though these slimy tentacles
sprang up like the hydra’s heads. Ned Land’s harpoon, at
each stroke, was plunged into the staring eyes of the cuttle¬
fish. But my bold companion was suddenly overturned by
the tentacles of a monster he had not been able to avoid.

Ah! how my heart beat with emotion and horror! The
formidable beak of a cuttle-fish was open over Ned Land.
The unhappy man would be cut in two. I rushed to his suc¬
cour. But Captain Nemo was before me; his axe disap¬
peared between the two enormous jaws, and, miraculously
saved, the Canadian, rising, plunged his harpoon deep into
the triple heart of the poulp.

“I owed myself this revenge!” said the Captain to the
Canadian.

Ned bowed without replying. The combat had lasted a
quarter of an hour. The monsters, vanquished and muti¬
lated, left us at last, and disappeared under the waves. Cap¬
tain Nemo, covered with blood, nearly exhausted, gazed
upon the sea that had swallowed up one of his companions,
and great tears gathered in his eyes.

19.' The Gulf Stream

This terrible scene of the 20th of April none of us can
ever forget. I have written it under the influence of violent
emotion. Since then I have revised the recital; I have read
it to Conseil and to the Canadian. They found it exact as
to facts, but insufficient as to effect. To paint such pictures,
one must have the pen of the most illustrious of our poets,

THE GULF STREAM

263

the author of “The Toilers of the Deep.”

I have said that Captain Nemo wept while watching
the waves; his grief was great. It was the second companion
he had lost since our arrival on board, and what a death 1
That friend, crushed, stifled, bruised by the dreadful arms
of a poulp, pounded by his iron jaws, would not rest with
his comrades in the peaceful coral cemetery I In the midst
of the struggle, it was the despairing cry uttered by the
unfortunate man that had torn my heart. The poor French¬
man, forgetting his conventional language, had taken to
his own mother tongue, to utter a last appeal 1 Amongst
the crew of the Nautilus, associated with the body and soul
of the Captain, recoiling like him from all contact with
men, I had a fellow countryman. Did he alone represent
France in this mysterious association, evidently composed
of individuals of divers nationalities? It was one of these
insoluble problems that rose up unceasingly before my
mind!

Captain Nemo entered his room, and I saw him no more
for some time. But that he was sad and irresolute I could
see by the vessel, of which he was the soul, and which re¬
ceived all his impressions. The Nautilus did not keep on
•' in its settled course; it floated about like a corpse at the
will of the waves. It went at random. He could not tear
himself away from the scene of the last struggle, from this
sea that had devoured one of his men. Ten days passed
thus. It was not till the 1st of May that the Nautilus re¬
sumed its northerly course, after having sighted the Ba¬
hamas at the mouth of the Bahama Channel. We were then
following the current from the largest river to the sea, that
has its banks, its fish, and its proper temperatures. I mean
the Gulf Stream. It is really a river, that flows freely to the
middle of the Atlantic, and whose waters do not mix with
the ocean waters. It is a salt river, salter than the surround¬
ing sea. Its mean depth is 1500 fathoms, its mean breadth
sixty miles. In certain places the current flows with- the
speed of two miles and a half an hour. The body of its
waters is more considerable than that of all the rivers in
the globe. It was on this ocean river that the Nautilus then
sailed.

This current carried with it all kinds of living things.
Argonauts, so common in the Mediterranean, were there in

264 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

quantities. Of the gristly sort, the most remarkable were
the turbot, whose slender tails foym nearly the third part
of the body, and that looked like large lozenges twenty-five
feet long; also, small sharks a yard long, with large heads,
short rounded muzzles, pointed teeth in several rows, and
whose bodies seemed covered with scales. Among the bony
fish I noticed some grey gobies, peculiar to these waters;
black giltheads, whose iris shone like fire; sirens a yard
long, with large snouts thickly set with little teeth, that ut¬
tered little cries; blue coryphaenes, in gold and silver; par¬
rots, like the rainbows of the ocean, that could rival in
colour the most beautiful tropical birds; blennies with tri¬
angular heads; bluish rhombs destitute of scales; batra-
choides covered with yellow transversal bands like a
Greek T; heaps of little gobies spotted with yellow; dip-
terodons with silvery heads and yellow tails; several speci¬
mens of salmon, mugilomores slender in shape, shining with
a soft light that Lacepede consecrated to the service of his
wife, and lastly, a beautiful fish, the American-knight,
that, decorated with all the orders and ribbons, frequents
the shores of this great nation, that esteems orders and rib¬
bons so little.

I must add that, during the night, the phosphorescent
waters of the Gulf Stream rivalled the electric power of our
watch-light, especially in the stormy weather that threat¬
ened us so frequently. May 8th, we were still crossing Cape
Hatteras, at the height of North Carolina. The width of the
Gulf Stream there is seventy-five miles, and its depth 210
yards. The Nautilus still went at random; all supervision
seemed abandoned. I thought that, under these circum¬
stances, escape would be possible. Indeed, the inhabited
shores offered anywhere an easy refuge. The sea was in¬
cessantly ploughed by the streamers that ply between New
York or Boston and the Gulf of Mexico, and overrun day
and night by the little schooners coasting about the sev¬
eral parts of the American coast. We could hope to be
picked up. It was a favourable opportunity, notwithstand¬
ing the thirty miles that separated the Nautilus from the
coasts of the Union. One unfortunate circumstance
thwarted the Canadian’s plans. The weather was very bad.
We were nearing those shores where tempests are so fre¬
quent, that country of waterspouts and cyclones actually

THE GULF STREAM 2 65

engendered by the current of the Gulf Stream. To tempt the
sea in a frail boat was certain destruction. Ned Land owned
this himself. He fretted, seized with nostalgia that flight
only could cure.

“Master,” he said that day to me, “this must come to an
end. I must make a clean breast of it. This Nemo is leaving
land and going up to the north. But I declare to you, I
have had enough of the South Pole, and I will not follow
him to the North.”

“What is to be done, Ned, since flight is impracticable
just now?”

“We must speak to the Captain,” said he; “you said
nothing when we were in your native seas. I will speak, now
we are in mine. When I think that before long the Nautilus
will be by Nova Scotia, and that there near Newfoundland
is a large bay, and into that bay the St. Lawrence empties
itself, and that the St. Lawrence is my river, the river by
Quebec my native town, — when I think of this, I feel furi¬
ous, it makes my hair stand on end. Sir, I would rather
throw myself into the sea! I will not stay herel I am sti¬
fled 1”

The Canadian was evidently losing all patience. His vig¬
orous nature could not stand this prolonged imprisonment.
His face altered daily; his temper became more surly. I
knew what he must suffer, for I was seized with nostalgia
myself. Nearly seven months had passed without our hav¬
ing had any news from land; Captain Nemo’s isolation, his
altered spirits, especially since the fight with the poulps,
his taciturnity, all made me view things in a different light.

“Well, sir?” said Ned, seeing I did not reply.

“Well, Ned! do you wish me to ask Captain Nemo his in-
• tentions concerning us?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Although he has already made them known?”

“Yes; I wish it settled finally. Speak for me, in my name
only, if you like.”

“But I so seldom meet him. He avoids me.”

“That is all the more reason for you to go to see him.”

I went to my room. From thence I meant to go to Cap¬
tain Nemo’s. It would not do to let this opportunity of
meeting him slip. I knocked at the door. No answer. I
knocked again, then turned the handle. The door opened, I

266 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

went in. The Captain was there. Bending over his work¬
table, he had not heard me. Resolved not to go without
having spoken, I approached him. He raised his head
quickly, frowned, and said roughly, “You here! What do
you want?”

“To speak to you, Captain.”

“But I am busy, sir; lam working. I leave you at liberty
to shut yourself up; cannot I be allowed the same?”

This reception was not encouraging; but I was deter¬
mined to hear and answer everything.

“Sir,” I said, coldly, “I have to speak to you on a matter
that admits of no delay.”

“What is that, sir?” he replied, ironically. “Have you
discovered something that has escaped me, or has the sea
delivered up any new secrets?”

We were at cross-purposes. But before I could reply, he
showed me an open manuscript on his table, and said, in a
more serious tone, “Here, M. Aronnax, is a manuscript
written in several languages. It contains the sum of my
studies of the sea; and, if it please God, it shall not perish
with me. This manuscript, signed with my name, completed
with the history of my life, will be shut up in a little in-
submersible case. The last survivor of all of us on board the
Nautilus will throw this case into the sea, and it will go
whither it is borne by the waves.”

This man’s name! his history written by himself! His
mystery would then be revealed some day.

“Captain,” I said, “I can but approve of the idea that
makes you act thus. The result of your studies must not
be lost. But the means you employ seem to me to be primi¬
tive. Who knows where the winds will carry this case, and
in whose hands it will fall? Could you not use some other
means? Could not you, or one of yours - ”

“Never, sir ! ” he said, hastily interrupting me.

“But I, and my companions are ready to keep this manu¬
script in store; and, if you will put us at liberty - ”

“At liberty?” said the Captain, rising.

“Yes, sir; that is the subject on which I wish to question
you. For seven months we have been here on board, and I
ask you today, in the name of my companions, and in my
own, if your intention is to keep us here always?”

“M. Aronnax, I will answer you today as I did seven

THE GULF STREAM 267

months ago: Whoever enters the Nautilus must never quit
it.”

“You impose actual slavery on usl ”

“Give it what name you please.”

“But everywhere the slave has the right to regain his lib¬
erty.”

“Who denies you this right? Have I ever tried to chain
you with an oath?”

He looked at me with his arms crossed.

“Sir,” I said, “to return a second time to this subject will
be neither to your nor to my taste; but, as we have entered
upon it, let us go through with it. I repeat, it is not only my¬
self whom it concerns. Study is to me a relief, a diversion, a
passion that could make me forget everything. Like you, I
am willing to live obscure, in the frail hope of bequeathing
one day, to future time, the result of my labours. But it is
otherwise with Ned Land. Every man, worthy of the name,
deserves some consideration. Have you thought that love
of liberty, hatred of slavery, can give rise to schemes of
revenge in a nature like the Canadian’s; that he could
think, attempt, and try - ”

I was silenced; Captain Nemo rose.

“Whatever Ned Land thinks of, attempts, or tries, what
does it matter to me? I did not seek him! It is not for my
pleasure that I keep him on board 1 As for you, M. Aron-
nax, you are one of those who can understand everything,
even silence. I have nothing more to say to you. Let this
first time you have come to treat of this subject be the last,
for a second time I will not listen to you.”

I retired. Our situation was critical. I related my con¬
versation to my two companions.

“We know now,” said Ned, “that we can expect nothing
from this man. The Nautilus is nearing Long Island. We
will escape, whatever the weather may be.”

But the sky became more and more threatening. Symp¬
toms of a hurricane became manifest. The atmosphere was
becoming white and misty. On the horizon, fine streaks of
cirrhous clouds were succeeded by masses of cumuli.
Other low clouds passed swiftly by. The swollen sea rose
in huge billows. The birds disappeared, with the exception
of the petrels, those friends of the storm. The barometer
fell sensibly, and indicated an extreme tension of the va-

268 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

pours. The mixture of the storm glass was decomposed un¬
der the influence of the electricity that pervaded the at¬
mosphere. The tempest burst on the 18th of May, just as
the Nautilus was floating off Long Island, some miles from
the port of New York. I can describe this strife of the ele¬
ments for, instead of fleeing to the depths of the sea, Cap¬
tain Nemo, by an unaccountable caprice, would brave it
at the surface. The wind blew from the south-west at first.
Captain Nemo, during the squalls, had taken his place on
the platform. He made himself fast, to prevent being washed
overboard by the monstrous waves. I had hoisted myself
up, and made myself fast also, dividing my admiration be¬
tween the tempest and this extraordinary man who was
coping with it. The raging sea was swept by huge cloud-
drifts, which were actually saturated with the waves. The
Nautilus, sometimes lying on its side, sometimes standing
up like a mast, rolled and pitched terribly. About five
o’clock a torrent of rain fell, that lulled neither sea nor
wind. The hurricane blew nearly forty leagues an hour. It
is under these conditions that it overturns houses, breaks
iron gates, displaces twenty-four pounders. However, the
Nautilus, in the midst of the tempest, confirmed the words
of a clever engineer, “There is no well-constructed hull
that cannot defy the sea.” This was not a resisting rock;
it was a steel spindle, obedient and movable, without rig¬
ging or masts, that braved its fury with impunity. How¬
ever, I watched these raging waves attentively. They meas¬
ured fifteen feet in height, and ISO to 175 yards long, and
their speed of propagation was thirty feet per second. Their
bulk and power increased with the depth of the water.
Such waves as these, at the Hebrides, have displaced a
mass weighing 8400 lbs. They are they which, in the tem¬
pest of December 23d, 1864, after destroying the town of
Yeddo, in Japan, broke the same day on the shores of Amer¬
ica. The intensity of the tempest increased with the night.
The barometer, as in 1860 at Reunion during a cyclone,
fell seven-tenths at the close of day. I saw a large vessel
pass the horizon struggling painfully. She was trying to
lie to under half steam, to keep up above the waves. It was
probably one of the steamers of the line from New York to
Liverpool, or Havre. It soon disappeared in the gloom. At
ten o’clock in the evening the sky was on fire. The atmos-

FROM LATITUDE 47° 24' LONGITUDE 17° 28' 269

phere was streaked with vivid lightning. I could not bear
the brightness of it; while the Captain, looking at it,
seemed to envy the spirit of the tempest. A terrible noise
filled the air, a complex noise, made up of the howls of the
crushed waves, the roaring of the wind, and the claps of
thunder. The wind veered suddenly to all points of the
horizon; and the cyclone, rising in the east, returned after
passing by the north, west, and south, in the inverse course
pursued by the circular storms of the southern hemisphere.
Ah, that Gulf StreamI It deserves its name of the King of
Tempests. It is that which causes those formidable cy¬
clones, by the difference of temperature between its air and
its currents. A shower of fire had succeeded the rain. The
drops of water were changed to sharp spikes. One would
have thought that Captain Nemo was courting a death
worthy of himself, a death by lightning. As the Nautilus,
pitching dreadfully, raised its steel spur in the air, it
seemed to act as a conductor, and I saw long sparks burst
from it. Crushed and without strength, I crawled to the
panel, opened it, and descended to the saloon. The storm
was then at its height. It was impossible to stand upright
in the interior of the Nautilus. Captain Nemo came down
about twelve. I heard the reservoirs filling by degrees, and
the Nautilus sank slowly beneath the waves. Through the
open windows in the saloon I saw large fish terrified, pass¬
ing like phantoms in the water. Some were struck before
my eyes. The Nautilus was still descending. I thought that
at about eight fathoms deep we should find a calm. But nol
the upper beds were too violently agitated for that. We had
to seek repose at more than twenty-five fathoms in the
bowels of the deep. But there, what quiet, what silence,
what peace! Who could have told that such a hurricane had
been let loose on the surface of that ocean?

20. From Latitude 47° 24' Longitude 17° 28'

In consequence of the storm, we had been thrown east¬
ward once more. All hope of escape on the shores of New
York or the St. Lawrence had faded away; and poor Ned,
in despair, had isolated himself like Captain Nemo. Con-
seil and I, however, never left each other. I said that the
Nautilus had gone aside to the east. I should have said (to

270 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

be more exact) the north-east. For some days, it wandered
first on the surface, and then beneath it, amid those fogs,
so dreaded by sailors. What accidents are due to these
thick fogs I What shocks upon these reefs when the wind
drowns the breaking of the waves I What collisions between
vessels, in spite of their warning lights, whistles, and alarm
bells 1 And the bottoms of these seas look like a field of
battle, where still lie all the conquered of the ocean; some
old and already encrusted, others fresh and reflecting from
their iron bands and copper-plates the brilliancy of our
lantern.

On the 15th of May we were at the extreme south of the
Bank of Newfoundland. This bank consists of alluvia, or
large heaps of organic matter, 'brought either from the
Equator by the Gulf Stream, or from the North Pole by the
counter current of cold water which skirts the American
coast. There also are heaped up those erratic blocks which
are carried along by the broken ice; and close by, a vast
charnel-house of molluscs or zoophytes, which perish here
by millions. The depth of the sea is not great at Newfound¬
land — not more than some hundreds of fathoms; but to¬
wards the south is a depression of 1500 fathoms. There the
Gulf Stream widens. It loses some of its speed and some of
its temperature, but it becomes a sea.

It was on the 17th of May, about 500 miles from Heart’s
Content, at a depth of more than 1400 fathoms, that I saw
the electric cable lying on the bottom. Conseil, to whom I
had not mentioned it, thought at first that it was a gigantic
sea-serpent. But I undeceived the worthy fellow, and by
way of consolation related several particulars in the laying
of this cable. The first one was laid in the years 1857 and
1858; but, after transmitting about 400 telegrams, would
not act any longer. In 1863, the engineers constructed an¬
other one, measuring 2000 miles in length, and weighing
4500 tons, which was embarked on the Great Eastern.
This attempt also failed.

On the 25th of May the Nautilus, being at a depth of
more than 1918 fathoms, was on the precise spot where the
rupture occurred which ruined the enterprise. It was within
638 miles of the coast of Ireland; and at half-past two in
the afternoon, they discovered that communication with
Europe had ceased. The electricians on board resolved to

FROM LATITUDE 47° 24' LONGITUDE 17° 28'. 271

cut the cable before fishing it up, and at eleven o’clock at
night they had recovered the damaged part. They made an¬
other point and spliced it, and it was once more submerged.
But some days after it broke again, and in the depths of
the ocean could not be recaptured. The Americans, how¬
ever, were not discouraged. Cyrus Field, the bold promoter of
the enterprise, as he had sunk all his own fortune,
set a new subscription on foot, which was at on9e answered,
and another cable was constructed on better principles.
The bundles of conducting wires were each enveloped in
gutta-percha, and protected by a wadding of hemp, con¬
tained in a metallic covering. The Great Eastern sailed on
the 13th of July, 1866. The operation worked well. But
one incident occurred. Several times in unrolling the cable
they observed that nails had been recently forced into it,
evidently with the motive of destroying it. Captain Ander¬
son, the officers, and engineers, consulted together, and had
it posted up that if the offender was surprised on board,
he would be thrown without further trial into the sea. From
that time the criminal attempt was never repeated.

On the 23d of July the Great Eastern was not more than
500 miles from Newfoundland, when they telegraphed from
Ireland news of the armistice concluded between Prussia
and Austria after Sadowa. On the 27th, in the midst of
heavy fogs, they reached the port of Heart’s Content. The
enterprise was successfully terminated; and for its first de¬
spatch, young America addressed old Europe in these words
of wisdom so rarely understood — “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.”

I did not expect to find an electric cable in its primitive
state, such as it was on leaving the manufactory. The long
serpent covered’ with the remains of shells, bristling with
foraminiferse, was encrusted with a strong coating which
served as a protection against all boring molluscs. It lay
quietly sheltered from the motions of the sea, and under a
favourable pressure for the transmission of the electric
spark which passes from Europe to America in .32 of a
second. Doubtless this cable will last for a great length of
time, for they find that the gutta-percha covering is im¬
proved by the sea-water. Besides, on this level, so well
chosen, the cable is never so deeply submerged as to cause
it to break. The Nautilus followed it to the lowest depth,

272 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

which was more than 2212 fathoms, and there it lay with¬
out any anchorage; and then we reached the spot where
the accident had taken place in 1863. The bottom of the
ocean then formed a valley about 100 miles broad, in which
Mont Blanc might have been placed without its summit
appearing above the waves. This valley is closed at the
east by a perpendicular wall more than 2000 yards high.
We arrived there on the 28th of May, and the Nautilus
was then not more than 120 miles from Ireland.

Was Captain Nemo going to land on the British Isles?
No. To my great surprise he made for the south, once more
coming back towards European seas. In rounding the Emer¬
ald Isle, for one instant I caught sight of Cape Clear, and
the light which guides the thousands of vessels leaving Glas¬
gow or Liverpool. An important question then arose in my
mind. Did the Nautilus dare entangle itself in the English
Channel? Ned Land, who had reappeared since we had been
nearing land, did not cease to question me. How could I an¬
swer? Captain Nemo remained invisible. After having "
shown the Canadian a glimpse of American shores, was he
going to show me the coast of France?

But the Nautilus was still going southward. On the 30th
of May, it passed in sight of the Land’s End, between the
extreme point of England and the Scilly Isles, which were
left to starboard. If he wished to enter the English Channel
he must go straight to the east. He did not do so.

During the whole of the 31st of May, the Nautilus de¬
scribed a series of circles on the water, which greatly in¬
terested me. It seemed to be seeking a spot it had some
trouble in finding. At noon, Captain Nemo himself came to
work the ship’s log. He spoke no word to me, but seemed
gloomier than ever. What could sadden him thus? Was it
his proximity to European shores? Had he some recol¬
lections of his abandoned country? If not, what did he feel?
Remorse or regret? For a long while this thought haunted
my mind, and I had a kind of presentiment that before long
chance would betray the Captain’s secrets.

The next day, the 1st of June, the Nautilus continued the
same process. It was evidently seeking some particular spot
in the ocean. Captain Nemo took the sun’s altitude as he
had done the day before. The sea was beautiful, the sky
clear. About eight miles to the east, a large vessel could be

FROM LATITUDE 47° 24' LONGITUDE 17° 28' 273

discerned on the horizon. No flag fluttered from its mast,
and I could not discover its nationality. Some minutes be¬
fore the sun passed the meridian, Captain Nemo took his
sextant, and watched with great attention'. The perfect rest
of the water greatly helped the operation. The Nautilus
was motionless; it neither rolled nor pitched.

I was on the platform when the altitude was take*, and
the Captain pronounced these words — “It is here.”

He turned and went below. Had he seen the vessel which
was changing its course and seemed to be nearing us? I could
not tell. I returned to the saloon. The panels closed, I heard
the hissing of the water in the reservoirs. The Nautilus be¬
gan to sink, following a vertical line, for its screw commu¬
nicated no motion to it. Some minutes later it stopped at a
depth of more than 420 fathoms, resting on the ground. The
luminous ceiling was darkened, then the panels were opened,
and through the glass I saw the sea brilliantly illuminated
by the rays of our lantern for at least half a mile round us.

I looked to the port side, and saw nothing but an im¬
mensity of quiet waters. But to starboard, on the bottom
appeared a large protuberance, which at once attracted my
attention. One would have thought it a ruin buried under a
coating of white shells, much resembling a covering of snow.
Upon examining the mass attentively, I could recognize the
ever thickening form of a vessel bare of its masts, which
must have sunk. It certainly belonged to past times. This
wreck, to be thus encrusted with the lime of the water, must
already be able to count many years passed at the bottom,
of the ocean.

What was this vessel? Why did the Nautilus visit its
tomb? Could it have been aught but a shipwreck which had
drawn it under the water? I knew not what to think, when
near me in a slow voice I heard Captain Nemo say —

“At one time this ship was called the Marseillais. It car¬
ried seventy-four guns, and was launched in 1762. In 1778
the 13th of August, commanded by La Poype-Vertrieux, it
fought boldly against the Preston. In 1779, on the 4th of
July, it was at the taking of Granada, with the squadron of
Admiral Estaing. In 1781, on the Sth of September, it took
part in the battle of Comte de Grasse, in Chesapeake Bay.
In 1794, the French Republic changed its name. On the 16th
of April, in the same year, it joined the squadron of Billaret

274 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

Joyeuse, at Brest, being entrusted with the escort of a
cargo of corn coming from America, under the command of
Admiral Van Stabel. On the 11th and 12th Prairal of the sec¬
ond year, this squadron fell in with an English vessel. Sir,
today is the 13th Prairal, the 1st of June, 1868. It is now
seventy-four years ago, day for day on this very spot, in
latitude 47° 24', longitude 17° 28', that this vessel, after
fighting heroically, losing its three masts, with the water in
is hold, and the third of its crew disabled, preferred sinking
with its 356 sailors to surrendering; and nailing its colours
to the poop, disappeared under the waves to the cry of
‘Long live the Republic! ’ ”

“The Avengerl” I exclaimed.

“Yes, sir, the Avenger I a good name!” muttered Captain
Nemo, crossing his arms.

21. A Hecatomb

The way of describing this unlooked-for scene, the history
of the patriotic ship, told at first so coldly, and the emotion
with which this strange man pronounced the last words, the
name of the Avenger, the significance of which could not
escape me, all impressed itself deeply on my mind. My
eyes did not leave the Captain; who, with his hand
stretched out to sea, was watching with a glowing eye the
glorious wreck. Perhaps I was never to know who he was,
from whence he came, or where he was going to, but I saw
the man move, and apart from the savant. It was no com¬
mon misanthropy which had shut Captain Nemo and his
companions within the Nautilus, but a hatred, either mon¬
strous or sublime, which time could never weaken. Did this
hatred still seek for vengeance? The future would soon
teach me that. But the Nautilus was rising slowly to the
surface of the sea, and the form of the Avenger disappeared
by degrees from my sight. Soon a slight rolling told me that
we were in the open air. At that moment a dull boom was
heard. I looked at the Captain. He did not move.

“Captain?” said I.

He did not answer. I left him and mounted the platform.
Conseil and the Canadian were already there.

“Where did that sound come from?” I asked.

“It was a gunshot,” replied Ned Land.

A HECATOMB 275

I looked in the direction of the vessel I had already seen.
It was nearing the Nautilus, and we could see that it was
putting on steam. It was within six miles of us.

“What is that ship, Ned?”

“By its rigging, and the height of its lower masts,” said
the Canadian, “I bet she is a ship of war. May it reach us;
and, if necessary, sink this cursed Nautilus .”

“Friend Ned,” replied Conseil, “what harm can it do to
the Nautilus ? Can it attack it beneath the waves? Can it
cannonade us at the bottom of the sea?”

“Tell me, Ned,” said I, “can you recognize what country
she belongs to?”

The Canadian knitted his eyebrows, dropped his eyelids,
and screwed up the corners of his eyes, and for a few mo¬
ments fixed a piercing look upon the vesseL

“No, sir,” he replied; “I cannot tell what nation she be¬
longs to, for she shows no colours. But I can declare she is a
man-of-war, for a long pennant flutters from her main¬
mast.”

For a quarter of an hour we watched the ship which was
steaming towards us. I could not, however, believe that she
could see the Nautilus from that distance; and still less,
that she could know what this submarine engine was. Soon
the Canadian informed me that she was a large armoured
two-decker ram. A thick black smoke was pouring from her
two funnels. Her closely furled sails were stopped to her
yards. She hoisted no flag at her mizzenpeak. The distance
prevented us from distinguishing the colours of her pennant,
which floated like a thin ribbon. She advanced rapidly; If
Captain Nemo allowed her to approach, there was a
chance of salvation for us.

“Sir,” said Ned Land, “if that vessel passes within a mile
of us I shall throw myself into the sea, and I should advise
you to do the same.”

I did not reply to the Canadian’s suggestion, but continued
watching the ship. Whether English, French, American, or
Russian, she would be sure to take us in if we could only
reach her. Presently a white smoke burst from the fore part
of the vessel; some seconds after the water, agitated by the
fall of a body, splashed the stern of the Nautilus, and shortly
afterwards a loud explosion struck my ear.

“What! they are firing at us! ” I exclaimed.

276 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“So please you, sir,” said Ned, “they have recognized the
unicorn, and they are firing at us.”

“But,” I exclaimed, “surely they can see that there are
men in the case?”

“It is, perhaps, because of that,” replied Ned Land, look¬
ing at me.

A whole flood of light burst upon my mind. Doubtless
they knew now how to believe the stories of the pretended
monster. No doubt, on board the Abraham Lincoln, when
the Canadian struck it with the harpoon, Commander Far-
ragut had recognized in the supposed narwhal a submarine
vessel, more dangerous than a supernatural cetacean. Yes,
it must have been so; and on every sea they were now seek¬
ing this engine of destruction. Terrible indeed 1 if, as we
supposed, Captain Nemo employed the Nautilus in works of
vengeance. On the night when we were imprisoned in that
cell, in the midst of the Indian Ocean, had he not attacked
some vessel? The man buried in the coral cemetery, had
he not been a victim to the shock caused by the Nautilus ?
Yes, I repeat it, it must be so. One part of the mysterious
existence of Captain Nemo had been unveiled; and, if his
identity had not been recognized, at least, the nations united
against him were no longer hunting a chimerical creature,
but a man who had vowed a deadly hatred against them. All
the formidable past rose before me. Instead of meeting
friends on board the approaching ship, we could only expect
pitiless enemies. But the shot rattled above us. Some
of them struck the sea and ricochetted, losing themselves in
the distance. But none touched the Nautilus. The vessel
was not more than three miles from us. In spite of the serious
cannonade, Captain Nemo did not appear on the platform;
but, if one of the conical projectiles had struck the shell of
the Nautilus, it would have been fatal. The Canadian then
said, “Sir, we must do all we can to get out of this dilemma.
Let us signal them. They will then, perhaps, understand
that we are honest folks.”

Ned Land took his handkerchief to wave in the air; but
we had scarcely displayed it, when he was struck down by
an iron hand, and fell in spite of his great strength, upon the
deck.

“Fool I” exclaimed the Captain, “do you wish to be pierced

A HECATOMB 277

by the spur of the Nautilus before it is hurled at this ves¬
sel?”

Captain Nemo was terrible to hear; he was still more ter¬
rible to see. His face was deadly pale, with a spasm at his
heart. For an instant it must have ceased to beat. His pupils
were fearfully contracted. He did not speak, he roared, as,
with his body thrown forward, he wrung the Canadian’s
shoulders. Then, leaving him, and turning to the ship of war,
whose shot was still raining around him, he exclaimed, with
a powerful voice, “Ah, ship of an accursed nation, you know
who I ami I do not want your colours to know you
by I Look ! and I will show you mine 1 ”

And on the forepart of the platform Captain Nemo un¬
furled a black flag, similar to the one he had placed at the
south pole. At that moment a shot struck the shell of the
Nautilus obliquely, without piercing it; and, rebounding near
the Captain, was lost in the sea. He shrugged his shoulders;
and addressing me, said shortly, “Go down, you and your
companions go down.”

“Sir,” I exclaimed, “are you going to attack this vessel?”

“Sir, I am going to sink it.”

“You will not do that?”

“I shall do it,” he replied, coldly. “And I advise you not
to judge me, sir. Fate has shown you what you ought not
have seen. The attack has begun; go down.”

“What is this vessel?”

“You do not know? Very well! so much the better! its
nationality to you, at least, will be secret. Go down! ”

We could but obey. About fifteen of the sailors sur¬
rounded the Captain, looking with implacable hatred at the
vessel nearing them. One could feel that the same desire of
vengeance animated every soul. I went down at the moment
another projectile struck the Nautilus, and I heard the
Captain exclaim —

“Strike, mad vessel! Shower your useless shot! And then,
you will not escape the spur of the Nautilus. But it is not
here that you shall perish! I would not have your ruins
mingle with those of the Avenger !”

I reached my room. The Captain and his second had re¬
mained on the platform. The screw was set in motion, and
the Nautilus, moving with speed, was soon beyond the reach
of the ship’s guns. But the pin-suit continued, and Captain

278 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

Nemo contented himself with keeping his distance.

About four in the afternoon, being no longer able to con¬
tain my impatience, I went to the central staircase. The
panel was open, and I ventured on to the platfojrm. The Cap¬
tain was still walking up and down with an agitated step,
He was looking at the ship, which was five or six miles to
leeward.

He was going round it like a wild beast, and drawing it
eastward, he allowed them to pursue. But he did not at¬
tack. Perhaps he still hesitated? I wished to mediate once
more. But I had scarcely spoken, when Captain Nemo im¬
posed silence, saying —

“I am the law, and I am the judge 1 I am the oppressed,
and there is the oppressor! Through him I have lost all that
I loved, cherished, and venerated, — country, wife, children,
father, and mother. I saw all perish! All that I hate is there 1
Say no more I”

I cast a last look at the man-of-war, which was putting on
steam, and rejoined Ned and Conseil.

“We will fly ! ” I exclaimed.

“Good! ” said Ned. “What is this vessel?”

“I do not know; but whatever it is, it will be sunk before
night. In any case, it is better to perish with it, than be made
accomplices in a retaliation, the justice of which we can¬
not judge.”

“That is my opinion too,” said Ned Land, coolly. “Let us
wait for night.”

Night arrived. Deep silence reigned on board. The com¬
pass showed that the Nautilus had not altered its course. It
was on the surface, rolling slightly. My companions and I
resolved to fly when the vessel should be near enough either
to hear us or to see us; for the moon, which could be full in
two or three days, shone brightly. Once on board the ship, if
we could not prevent the blow which threatened it, we could,
at least we would, do all that circumstances would allow.
Several times I thought the Nautilus was preparing for at¬
tack; but Captain Nemo contented himself with allowing
his adversary to approach, and then fled once more before
it.

Part of the night of the night passed without any inci¬
dent. We watched the opportunity for action. We spoke lit¬
tle, for we were too much moved. Ned Land would have

A HECATOMB 279

thrown himself into the sea, but I forced him to wait. Ac¬
cording to my idea, the Nautilus would attack the ship at her
waterline, and then it would not only be possible, but easy
to fly.

At three in the morning, full of uneasiness, I mounted the
platform. Captain Nemo had not left it. He was standing at
the forepart near his flag, which a slight breeze displayed
above his head. He did not take his eyes from the vessel.
The intensity of his look seemed to attract, and fascinate,
and draw it onward more purely than if he had been towing
it. The moon was then passing the meridian. Jupiter was
rising in the east. Amid this peaceful scene of nature, sky
and ocean rivalled each other in tranquillity, the sea offering
to the orbs of night the finest mirror they could ever have in
which to reflect their image. As I thought of the deep calm
of these elements, compared with all those passions brood¬
ing imperceptibly within the Nautilus, I shuddered.

The vessel was within two miles of us. It was ever near¬
ing that phosphorescent light which showed the presence of
the Nautilus. I could see its green and red lights, and its
white lantern hanging from the large foremast. An indistinct
vibration quivered through its rigging, showing that the fur¬
naces were heated to the uttermost. Sheaves of sparks and
red ashes flew from the funnels, shining in the atmosphere
like stars.

I remained thus until six in the morning, without Cap¬
tain Nemo noticing me. The ship stood about a mile and a
half from us, and with the first dawn of day the firing began
afresh. The moment could not be far off when, the Nautilus
attacking its adversary, my companions and myself should
forever leave this man. I was preparing to go down to remind
them, when the second mounted the platform, accompanied
by several sailors. Captain Nemo either did not, or would
not, see them. Some steps were taken which might be called
the signal for action. They were very simple. The iron bal¬
ustrade around the platform was lowered, and the lantern
and pilot cages were pushed within the shell until they were
flush with the deck. The long surface of the steel cigar no
longer offered a single point to check its manoeuvres. I re¬
turned to the saloon. The Nautilus still floated; some
streaks of light were filtering through the liquid beds. With
the undulations of the waves the windows were brightened

280 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

by the red streaks of the rising sun, and this dreadful day

of the 2d of June had dawned.

At five o’clock the log showed that the speed of the Nau¬
tilus was slackening, and I knew that it was allowing them
to draw nearer. Besides, the reports were heard more dis¬
tinctly, and the projectiles, labouring through the ambi¬
ent water, were extinguished with a strange hissing noise.

“My friends,” said I, “the moment is come. One grasp of
the hand, and may God protect us! ”

Ned Land was resolute, Conseil calm, myself so nervous
that I knew not how to contain myself. We all passed into
the library; but the moment I pushed the door opening on
to the central staircase, I heard the upper panel close
sharply. The Canadian rushed on to the stairs, but I
stopped him. A well-known hissing noise told me that the
water was running into the reservoirs, and in a few minutes
the Nautilus was some yards beneath the surface of the
waves. I understood the manoeuvre. It was too late to act.
The Nautilus did not wish to strike at the impenetrable
cuirass, but below the waterline, where the metallic cover¬
ing no longer protected it.

We were again imprisoned, unwilling witnesses of the
dreadful drama that was preparing. We had scarcely time to
reflect; taking refuge in my room, we looked at each other
without speaking. A deep stupor had taken hold of my
mind; thought seemed to stand still. I was in that painful
state of expectation preceding a dreadful report. I waited, I
listened, every sense was merged in that of hearing! The
speed of the Nautilus was accelerated. It was preparing to
rush. The whole ship trembled. Suddenly I screamed. I felt
the shock, but comparatively light. I felt the penetrating
power of the steep spur. I heard rattlings and scrapings. But
the Nautilus, carried along by its propelling power, passed
through the mass of the vessel, like a needle through sail¬
cloth!

I could stand it no longer. Mad, out of my mind, I rushed
from my room into the saloon. Captain Nemo was there,
mute, gloomy, implacable; he was looking through the port
panel. A large mass cast a shadow on the water; and that it
might lose nothing of her agony, the Nautilus was going
down into the abyss with her. Ten yards from me I saw the
open shell through which the water was rushing with the

THE LAST WORDS OF CAPTAIN NEMO 281

noise of thunder, then the double line of guns and the netting.
The bridge was covered with black agitated shadows.

The water was rising. The poor creatures were crowding
the ratlines clinging to the masts, struggling under the water.
It was a human ant-heap overtaken by the sea. Paralysed,
stiffened with anguish, my hair standing on end, with eyes
wide open, panting, without breath, and without voice, I too
was watching 1 An irresistible attraction glued me to the
glass I suddenly an explosion took place. The compressed air
blew up her decks, as if the magazines had caught fire. Then
the unfortunate vessel sunk more rapidly. Her topmast,
laden with victims, now appeared; then her spars, bending
under the weight of men, and last of all, the top of her main¬
mast. Then the dark mass disappeared, and with it the dead
crew, drawn down by the strong eddy.

I turned to Captain Nemo. That terrible avenger, a per- •
feet archangel of hatred, was still looking. When all was
over, he turned to his room, opened the door, and entered. I
followed him with my eyes. On the end wall beneath his he¬
roes, I saw the portrait of a woman still young, and two lit¬
tle children. Captain Nemo looked at them for some mo¬
ments, stretched his arms towards them, and kneeling down
burst into deep sobs.

22. The Last Words of Captain Nemo

The panels had closed on this dreadful vision, but light had
not returned to the saloon; all was silence and darkness
within the Nautilus. At wonderful speed, a hundred feet
beneath the water, it was leaving this desolate spot.
Whither was it going? To the north or south? Where was the
man flying to after such dreadful retaliation? I had returned
to my room, where Ned and Conseil had remained silent
enough. I felt an insurmountable horror for Captain Nemo.
Whatever he had suffered at the hands of these men, he had .
no right to punish thus. He had made me, if not an accom¬
plice, at least a witness of his vengeance. At eleven the elec¬
tric light reappeared. I passed into the saloon. It was de¬
serted. I consulted the different instruments. The Nautilus
was flying northward at the rate of twenty-five miles an
hour, now on the surface, and now thirty feet below it. On
taking the bearings by the chart, I saw that we were pass-

282 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

ing the mouth of the Channel and that our course was hur¬
rying us towards the northern seas at a frightful speed. That
night we had crossed two hundred leagues of the Atlantic.
The shadows fell, and the sea was covered with darkness un¬
til the rising of the moon. I went to my room, but could not
sleep. I was troubled with dreadful nightmares. The hor¬
rible scene of destruction was continually before my eyes.
From that day, who could tell into what part of the North
Atlantic basin the Nautilus would take us? Still, with un¬
accountable speed. Still in the midst of these northern fogs.
Would it touch at Spitzbergen, or on the shores of Nova
Zembla? Should we explore those unknown seas, the White
Sea, the Sea of Kara, the Gulf of Obi, the Archipelago of
Liarrov, and the unknown coast of Asia? I could not say. I
could no longer judge of the time that was passing. The
clocks had been stopped on board. It seemed, as in polar
countries, that night and day no longer followed their regu¬
lar course. I felt myself being drawn into that strange re¬
gion where the foundered imagination of Edgar Poe roamed
at will. Like the fabulous Gordon Pym, at every moment I
expected to see “That veiled human figure, of larger propor¬
tions than those of any inhabitant of the earth, thrown
across the cataract which defends the approach to the pole.”
I estimated (though, perhaps, I may be mistaken), — I esti¬
mated this adventurous course of the Nautilus to have
lasted fifteen or twenty days. And I know not how much
longer it might have lasted, had it not been for the catas¬
trophe which ended this voyage. Of Captain Nemo I saw
nothing whatever now, nor of his second. Not a man of the
crew was visible for an instant. The Nautilus was almost
incessantly under water. When we came to the surface to re¬
new the air, the panels opened and shut mechanically.
There were no more marks on the planisphere. I knew not
where we were. And the Canadian, too, his strength and pa¬
tience at an end, appeared no more. Conseil could not
draw a word from him; and fearing that, in a dreadful fit of
madness, he might kill himself, watched him with constant
devotion. One morning (what date it was I could not say),
I had fallen into a heavy sleep towards the early hours,
a sleep both painful and unhealthy, when I suddenly
awoke. Ned Land was leaning over me, saying, in a low
voice, “We are going to fly.”

THE LAST WORDS OF CAPTAIN NEMO 283

I sat up.

“When shall we go?” I asked.

“Tomorrow night. All inspection on aboard the Nautilus
seems to have ceased. All appear to be stupefied. You will
be ready, sir?”

“Yes; where are we?”

“In sight of land. I took the reckoning this morning in
the fog, — twenty miles to the east.”

“What country is it?”

“I do not know; but whatever it is, we will take refuge
there.”

“Yes, Ned, yes. We will fly tonight, even if the sea should
swallow us up.”

“The sea is bad, the wind violent, but twenty miles in that
light boat of the Nautilus does not frighten me. Unknown
to the crew, I have been able to procure food and some bot¬
tles of water.”

“I will follow you.”

“But,” continued the Canadian, “if I am surprised, I will
defend myself; I will force them to kill me.”

“We will die together, friend Ned.”

I had made up my mind to all. The Canadian left me. I
reached the platform, on which I could with difficulty sup¬
port myself against the shock of the waves. The sky was
threatening; but, as land was in those thick brown shadows,
we must fly. I returned to the saloon, fearing and yet hoping
to see Captain Nemo, wishing and yet not wishing to see
him. What could I have said to him? Could I hide the invol¬
untary horror with which he inspired me? No. It was bet¬
ter that I should not meet him face to face; better to forget

him. And yet - . How long seemed that day, the last that

I should pass in the Nautilus. I remained alone. Ned Land
and Conseil avoided speaking, for fear of betraying them¬
selves. At six I dined, but I was not hungry; I forced myself
to eat in spite of my disgust, that I might not weaken my¬
self. At half-past six Ned Land came to my room, saying,
“We shall not see each other again before our departure. At
ten the moon will not be risen. We will profit by the darkness.
Come to the boat; Conseil and I will wait for you.”

The Canadian went out without giving me time to an¬
swer. Wishing to verify the course of the Nautilus, I went
to the saloon. We were running N.N.E. at frightful speed and

284 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

more than fifty yards deep. I cast a last look on these won¬
ders of nature, on the riches of art heaped up in this museum,
upon the unrivalled collection destined to perish at the bot¬
tom of the sea, with him who had formed it. I wished to fix
an indelible impression of it in my mind. I remained an
hour thus, bathed in the light of that luminous ceiling, and
passing in review those treasures shining under their glasses.
Then I returned to my room.

I dressed myself in strong sea clothing. I collected my
notes, placing them carefully about me. My heart beat
loudly. I could not check its pulsations. Certainly my trou¬
ble and agitation would have betrayed me to Captain
Nemo’s eyes. What was he doing at this moment? I listened
at the door of his room. I heard steps. Captain Nemo was
there. He had not gone to rest. At every moment I expected
to see him appear, and ask me why I wished to fly. I was
constantly on the alert. My imagination magnified every¬
thing. The impression became at last so poignant, that I
asked myself if it would not be better to go to the Captain’s
room, see him face to face and brave him with look and
gesture.

It was the inspiration of a madman; fortunately I resisted
the desire and stretched myself on my bed to quiet my bod¬
ily agitation. My nerves were somewhat calmer, but in my
excited brain I saw over again all my existence on board the
Nautilus ; every incident either happy or unfortunate, which
had happened since my disappearance from the Abraham
Lincoln-, — the submarine hunt, the Torres Straits, the sav¬
ages of Papua, the running ashore, the coral cemetery, the
passage of Suez, the Island of Santorin, the Cretan diver,
Vigo Bay, Atlantis, the iceberg, the south pole, the imprison¬
ment in the ice, the fight among the poulps, the storm in
the Gulf Stream, the Avenger, and the horrible scene of the
vessel sunk with all her crew. All these events passed before
my eyes like scenes in a drama. Then Captain Nemo
seemed to grow enormously, his features to assume super¬
human proportions. He was no longer my equal, but a man
of the waters, the genie of the sea.

It was then half-past nine. I held my head between my
hands to keep it from bursting. I closed my eyes, I would
hot think any longer. There was another half hour to wait,
another half hour of a nightmare, which might drive me mad.

THE LAST WORDS OF CAPTAIN NEMO ' 285

At that moment I heard the distant strains of the organ,
a sad harmony to an undefinable chant, the wail of a soul
longing to break these earthly bonds. I listened with every
sense, scarcely breathing; plunged, like Captain Nemo, in
that musical ecstasy, which was drawing him in spirit to
the end of life.

Then a sudden thought terrified me. Captain Nemo had
left his room. He was in the saloon, which I must cross to
fly. There I should meet him for the last time. He would see
me, perhaps speak to me. A gesture of his might destroy me,
a single word chain me on board.

But ten was about to strike. The moment had come for
me to leave my room, and join my companions.

I must not hesitate, even if Captain Nemo himself should
rise before me. I opened my door carefully; and even then,
as it turned on its hinges, it seemed to me to make a dread¬
ful noise. Perhaps it only existed in my own imagination.

I crept along the dark stairs of the Nautilus, stopping at
each step to check the beating of my heart. I reached the
door of the saloon, and opened it gently. It was plunged in
profound darkness. The strains of the organ sounded faintly.
Captain Nemo was there. He did not see me. In the full
light I do not think he would have noticed me, so en¬
tirely was he absorbed in the ecstasy.

I crept along the carpet, avoiding the slightest sound
which might betray my presence. I was at least five min¬
utes reaching the door, at the opposite side, opening into the
library.

I was going to open it, when a sign from Captain Nemo
nailed me to the spot. I knew that he was rising. I could even
see him, for the light from the library came through to the
saloon. He came towards me silently, with his arms crossed,
gliding like a spectijp rather than walking. His breast was
swelling with sobs; and I heard him murmur these words
(the last which ever struck my ear) —

“Almighty God! enough! enough 1”

Was it a confession of remorse which thus escaped from
this man’s conscience?

In desperation I rushed through the library, mounted the
central staircase, and following the upper flight reached the
boat. I crept through the opening, which had already ad¬
mitted my two companions.

286 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

“Let us go! let us go! ” I exclaimed.

“Directly! ” replied the Canadian.

The orifice in the plates of the Nautilus was first closed,
and fastened down by means of a false key, with which Ned
Land had provided himself; the opening in the boat was also
closed. The Canadian began to loosen the bolts which still
held us to the submarine boat.

Suddenly a noise within was heard. Voices were answer¬
ing each other loudly. What was the matter? Had they dis¬
covered our flight? I felt Ned Land slipping a dagger into
my hand.

“ Yes, ”T murmured, “we know how to die!”

The Canadian had stopped in his work. But one word
many times repeated, a dreadful word, revealed the cause
of the agitation spreading on board the Nautilus. It was
not we the crew were looking after!

“The maelstrom! the maelstrom!” I exclaimed.

The maelstrom! Could a more dreadful word in a more
dreadful situation have sounded in our ears! We were then
upon the dangerous coast of Norway. Was the Nautilus
being drawn into this gulf at the moment our boat was go¬
ing to leave its sides? We knew that at the tide the pent-
up waters between the islands of Ferros and Loffoden rush
with irresistible violence, forming a whirlpool from which
no vessel ever escapes. From every point of the horizon enor¬
mous waves were meeting, forming a gulf justly called the
“Navel of the Ocean,” whose power of attraction extends to
a distance of twelve miles. There, not only vessels, but
whales are sacrificed, as well as white bears from the north¬
ern regions.

It is thither that the Nautilus, voluntarily or involuntar¬
ily, had been run by the Captain.

It was describing a spiral, the circumference of which
was lessening by degrees, and the boat, which was still
fastened to its side, was carried along with giddy speed. I
felt that sickly giddiness which arises from long-continued
whirling round.

We were in dread. Our horror was at its height, circulation
had stopped, all nervous influence was annihilated, and we
were covered with cold sweat, like a sweat of agony! And
what noise around our frail bark! What roarings repeated
by the echo miles away! What an uproar was that of the

THE LAST WORDS OF CAPTAIN NEMO 287

waters broken on the sharp rocks at the bottom, where the
hardest bodies are .crushed, and trees torn away, “with all
the fur rubbed off,” according to the Norwegian phrase!

What a situation to be ini We rocked frightfully. The
Nautilus defended itself like a human being. Its steel mus¬
cles cracked. Sometimes it seemed to stand upright, and we
with it!

“We must hold on,” said Ned, “and look after the bolts.
We may still be saved if we stick to the Nautilus - ”

He had not finished the words, when we heard a crashing
noise, the bolts gave way, and the boat, torn from its groove,
was hurled like a stone from a sling into the midst of the
whirlpool.

My head struck on a piece of iron, and with the violent
shock, I lost all consciousness.

23. Conclusion

Thus ends the voyage under the seas. What passed during
that night — how the boat escaped from the eddies of the
maelstrom — how Ned Land, Conseil, and myself ever came
out of the gulf, I cannot tell.

. But when I returned to consciousness, I was lying in a
fisherman’s hut, on the Loffoden Isles. My two companions,
safe and sound, were near me holding my hands. We em¬
braced each other heartily.

At that moment we could not think of returning to France.
The means of communication between the north of Nor¬
way and the south are rare. And I am therefore obliged to
wait for the steamboat running monthly from Cape North.

And among the worthy people who have so kindly re¬
ceived us, I revise my record of these adventures once more.
Not a fact has been omitted, not a detail exaggerated. It is a
faithful narrative of this incredible expedition in an element
inaccessible to man, but to which Progress will one day open
a road.

Shall I be believed? I do not know. And it matters little,
after all. What I now affirm is, that I have a right to speak
of these seas, under which, in less than ten months, I have
crossed 20,000 leagues in that submarine tour of the world,
which has revealed so many wonders.

But what has become of the Nautilus ? Did it resist the

288 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

pressure of the maelstrom? Does Captain Nemo still live?
And does he still follow under the ocean those frightful re¬
taliations? Or, did he stop after that last hecatomb?

Will the waves one day carry to him this manuscript con¬
taining the history of his life? Shall I ever know the name
of this man? Will the missing vessel tell us by its nation¬
ality that of Captain Nemo?

I hope so. And I also hope that his powerful vessel has
conquered the sea at its most terrible gulf, and the Nau¬
tilus has survived where so many other vessels have been
lostl If it be so — if Captain Nemo still inhabits the ocean,
his adopted country, may hatred be appeased in that savage
heart! May the contemplation of so many wonders extin¬
guish for ever the spirit of vengeance! May the judge disap¬
pear, and the philosopher continue the peaceful explora¬
tion of the sea! If his destiny be strange, it is also sublime.
Have I not understood it myself? Have I not lived ten
months of this unnatural life? And to the question asked by
Ecclesiastes 3000 years ago, “That which is far off and
exceeding deep, who can find it out?” two men alone of all
now living have the right to give an answer —

Captain Nemo and Myself.

JULES VERNE

20,000 LEAGUES
T SEA

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the
Sea is perhaps the best known and the
most typical of Jules Verne’s novels. In
this, as in all his novels, he brings into
play the effective and imaginative use of
science as a framework for his stories. In
creating the fantastic Nautilus, he pre¬
dicted the invention of the submarine.

The idealistic, truth-seeking Captain
Nemo is the master of the Nautilus, whose
voyage turns out to be the strangest and
most adventurous in modern literature.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
remains to this day a classic in its field.

Complete and Unabridged

AN AIRMONT CLASSIC

Published by Airmont Publishing Co., Inc.